Music is a popular discussion topic among people in China.
In this post you’ll learn Mandarin music vocabulary that can help you take part in those conversations!
(Note: You'll find a complete conversation transcript and vocabulary list below the video.)
Video Transcript (How To Talk About Music In Chinese)
Amy:
你知道吗？Angel说我不懂音乐，但我完全不同意她的说法。nǐ zhī dào ma？ Angel shuō wǒ bù dǒng yīn yuè，dàn wǒ wán quán bù tóng yì tā de shuō fǎ. You know Angel says I know nothing about music, but, I totally disagree.
因为我几乎听所有类型的音乐。我的意思是说我不听重金属和摇滚乐。nǐ zhī dào ma？yīn wèi wǒ jǐ hū tīng suǒ yǒu lèi xíng de yīn yuè. wǒ de yì sī shì shuō wǒ bù tīng zhòng jīn shǔ hé yáo gǔn yuè. Because I listen to almost all kinds of music. I mean I don't listen to heavy metal and rock.
其实我非常喜欢音乐，我每天都在听音乐。qí shí wǒ fēi cháng xǐ huān yīn yuè， wǒ měi tiān dōu zài tīng yīn yuè. I mean ... I like music, I listen to music every day.
当我觉得伤心的时候或者情绪低落的时候，我会听一些嘻哈，比如说周杰伦的歌。dāng wǒ jué de shāng xīn de shí hòu huò zhě qíng xù dī luò de shí hòu，wǒ huì tīng yī xiē xī hā ，bǐ rú shuō zhōu jié lún de gē. When I feel sad or moody, I often listen to hip-hop, like Jay Chou's songs.
当我需要放松的时候，我会放一些柔和的流行乐，比如张靓颖的歌。dāng wǒ xū yào fàng sōng de shí hòu， wǒ huì fàng yī xiē róu hé de liú xíng yuè， bǐ rú zhāng liàng yǐng de gē. When I need to relax, I put on some soft pop music, like Jane Zhang’s songs.
是的，我同意。她的音乐没什么特别的，挺大众的，但你不得不承认她有一副好嗓子。shì de，wǒ tóng yì. tā de yīn yuè méi shén me tè bié de， tǐng dà zhòng de， dàn nǐ bù dé bù chéng rèn tā yǒu yī fù hǎo sǎng zi. Yes, I agree. There's nothing special about her music. It’s pretty ordinary, but you have to admit she has a great voice.
她的歌声非常美，特别好听。她确实是个很有魅力的歌手。tā de gē shēng fēi cháng měi， tè bié hǎo tīng. tā què shí shì gè hěn yǒu mèi lì de gē shǒu. Her singing voice is beautiful and pleasant to listen to. She is a really charming singer.
Anna:
现在的唱片销量大部分都是暴跌的。xiàn zài de chàng piàn xiāo liàng dà bù fēn dōu shì bào diē de. Nowadays, record sales are generally plummeting.
大家都喜欢在线上听或者下载音乐，越来越少的人喜欢购买唱片了。dà jiā dōu xǐ huān zài xiàn shàng tīng huò zhě xià zài yīn yuè， yuè lái yuè shǎo de rén xǐ huān gòu mǎi chàng piàn le. Everyone just likes to stream or download music from the Internet. Less and less people like to buy records.
没办法了，这就是现代的生活方式，我猜的。虽然我也喜欢最新的科技，但我还是倾向于购买黑胶唱片。 méi bàn fǎ le， zhè jiù shì xiàn dài de shēng huó fāng shì，wǒ cāi de. suī rán wǒ yě xǐ huān zuì xīn de kē jì， dàn wǒ hái shì qīng xiàng yú gòu mǎi hēi jiāo chàng piàn. Anyway, that's our modern life, I guess. Although I like the latest technology, I still tend to buy LPs.
我个人认为唱片是最好的，它们有那种淡淡的塑料味道，而且唱片的音质非常温暖，还有唱片的封面又漂亮又有趣。wǒ gè rén rèn wèi chàng piàn shì zuì hǎo de， tā men yǒu nà zhǒng dàn dàn de sù liào wèi dào， ér qiě chàng piàn de yīn zhì fēi cháng wēn nuǎn， hái yǒu chàng piàn de fēng miàn yòu piào liàng yòu yǒu qù. I think records are best.They have that kind of faint plastic smell and... and the sound is so warm, and the albums are beautiful and interesting.
还有呢，我特别爱听雷鬼和摇滚。这两种音乐能很好地描述你的个性和心情。hái yǒu ne， wǒ tè bié ài tīng léi guǐ hé yáo gǔn. zhè liǎng zhǒng yīn lè néng hěn hǎo de miáo shù nǐ de gè xìng hé xīn qíng. Also I particularly love to listen to reggae and rock music. These two types of music are great for expressing your personality and your mood.
Angel, 就是不懂得欣赏这两种音乐。Angel, jiù shì bù dǒng dé xīn shǎng zhè liǎng zhǒng yīn yuè. Angel, just ... doesn't appreciate these two types of music.
你知道吗？音乐就是生命，音乐就是阳光，音乐就是灵魂。nǐ zhī dào ma？ yīn yuè jiù shì shēng mìng， yīn yuè jiù shì yáng guāng， yīn yuè jiù shì líng hún. You know, music is life. Music is sunshine. Music is soul.
可能Angel没有灵魂。kě néng Angel, tā méi yǒu líng hún. duì， wǒ jué dé tā méi yǒu líng hún， shì gè shǎ zi. Maybe Angel doesn't have a soul.
Angel:
我不在乎音乐的好坏。只要那音乐符合我的心情，我就会去听，那就是适合我的音乐。 wǒ bù zài hū yīn yuè de hǎo huài. zhǐ yào nà yīn yuè fú hé wǒ de xīn qíng， wǒ jiù huì qù tīng， nà jiù shì shì hé wǒ de yīn yuè. I just don't care whether the music's cool or not. If it's right for the mood, then I just listen to it, then it's right for me.
你知道吗？我的两个室友挺无聊的。她们总是在争吵，就像小孩子一样，都快让我发疯了。nǐ zhī dào ma？ wǒ de liǎng gè shì yǒu yǒu wú liáo de. tā men zǒng shì zài zhēng chǎo， jiù xiàng xiǎo hái zi yī yàng， dōu kuài ràng wǒ fā fēng le. You know my roomates can be really boring. They're always arguing, just like children.It drives me crazy.
她们常常争论音乐的事情，这个嘛，每个人都有不同的喜好！ tā men cháng cháng zhēng lùn yīn yuè de shì qíng， zhè gè ma， měi gè rén dōu yǒu bù tóng de xǐ hào！They often argue about music. Well, everyone has different preferences!
我喜欢爵士，她们俩都不喜欢。谁在乎呢？wǒ xǐ huān jué shì， tā men liǎ dōu bù xǐ huān. shéi zài hū ne？I like Jazz music. And neither of them like it. Who cares?
音乐，还有我们怎样去听音乐的形式,一直在变化。 yīn yuè， hái yǒu wǒ men zěn yàng qù tīng yīn yuè de xíng shì, yī zhí zài biàn huà. Music, and the way we listen to it, is changing all the time.
有人喜欢在咖啡馆里边喝咖啡边听古典乐，有人喜欢在酒吧里边听电子乐边跳舞， 也有人喜欢边健身边听说唱乐，还有一些人喜欢边开车边听R&B,乡村乐，朋克什么的。yǒu rén xǐ huān zài kā fēi guǎn lǐ biān hē kā fēi biān tīng gǔ diǎn yuè， yǒu rén xǐ huān zài jiǔ ba lǐ biān tīng diàn zi yuè biān tiào wǔ，yě yǒu rén xǐ huān biān jiàn shēn biān tīng shuō chàng yuè， hái yǒu yī xiē rén xǐ huān biān kāi chē biān tīng R&B, xiāng cūn yuè， péng kè shén me de. Some people like to listen to classical music while having coffee in a cafe. Some like to dance in the bar while listening to electronic music. Others like to listen to rap music while working out. There are also some people who like to listen to R&B, country music, punk ect. while driving.
只要我们按一下按钮，然后就能听到各种各样的音乐了。 zhǐ yào wǒ men àn yī xià àn niǔ， jiù kě yǐ tīng dào gè zhǒng gè yàng de yīn yuè le. We just need to click a button and then we can listen to all sorts of music.
Vocabulary List (How To Talk About Music In Chinese)
- 音乐类型 yīn yuè lèi xíng (The Genre of Music)
古典乐 gǔ diǎn yuè: Classical Music
流行乐 liú háng yuè: Pop Music
蓝调乐 lán diào yuè: Blues
摇滚乐 yáo gǔn yuè: Rock & Roll
说唱乐 shuō chàng yuè: Rap
爵士乐 jué shì yuè: Jazz
器乐 qì yuè: Instrumental music
民间音乐 mín jiān yīn yuè: Folk music
民族音乐 mín zú yīn yuè: Ethnic music
朋克乐 péng kè yuè: Funk
重金属乐 zhòng jīn shǔ yuè: Heavy metal
节奏与蓝调乐 jié zòu yǔ lán diào yuè: Rhythm and Blues (R & B)
灵魂音乐 líng hún yīn yuè: Soul Gospel Music
迪斯科 dí sī kē: Disco
乡村音乐 xiāng cūn yīn yuè: Country Music
雷鬼音乐 léi guǐ yīn yuè: Reggae
新世纪音乐 xīn shì jì yīn yuè: New Age Music
- 节奏 jié zòu (Tempo )
快节奏 kuài jié zòu: Fast Tempo
中速节奏 zhōng sù jié zòu: Medium Speed Tempo
慢节奏 màn jié zòu: Slow Tempo
- 旋律 xuán lǜ (Melody)
优美 yōu měi: beautiful / graceful / fine / elegant
轻快 qīng kuài: light and quick / brisk / spry / lively
柔和 róu hé: gentle / soft
动听 dòng tīng: pleasant to listen to / amazing
抒情 shū qíng: to express emotion / lyric
激昂 jī áng: impassioned / worked up
震撼 zhèn hàn: to shake / to vibrate / to shock / to stun / shocking / stunning / fig. mind-blowing
伤感 shāng gǎn: sad / emotional
幸福 xìng fú: happy / blessed / sweet
惊悚 jīng sǒng: thrilling/ horror
滑稽 huá jī: comical / funny / amusing
有意思的 yǒu yì sī de: interesting / meaningful / enjoyable / fun
有趣的 yǒu qù de: interesting / fascinating / amusing
- Other Vocabulary For Describing Music in Chinese
和音 hé yīn: harmony (pleasing combination of sounds)
和声 hé shēng: harmony (music)
歌词 gē cí: lyrics
容易上口的 róng yì shàng kǒu de: catchy
洗脑神曲 xǐ nǎo shén qǔ: earworm
热点单曲 rè diǎn dān qǔ: hit
演唱会 yǎn chàng huì: a gig / vocal recital / concert
音乐会 yīn yuè huì: concert
原唱 yuán chàng: originals
翻唱 fān chàng: covers
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