音楽の単語 - The music

In the first season, we saw a vocabulary lesson on musical instruments. Today I’m giving you a new vocabulary lesson which is a sequel. Still on the theme of music, you will discover new words in kanji, others in katakana.

The kanji are not particularly difficult to memorize, I will give you explanations of most of the words, on the kanji that compose them so that you understand more easily.

There are thirty-five words to memorize.

Let’s start.

音楽 . オンガク . the music
音楽室 . オンガクシツ . the music room
西洋音楽 . セイヨウオンガク . the western music
東洋音楽 . トウヨウオンガク . the oriental music
電子音楽 . デンシオンガク . the electronic music
現代音楽 . ゲンダイオンガク . the contemporary music
ポップ音楽 . ポップオンガク . the pop music
ポップ・ミュージック . the pop music
シティ・ポップ . the City Pop
メトロノーム . the metronome
コンサート . the concert
ソルフェージュ . the music theory
ケーナ . the quena
ハモニカ / ハーモニカ . the harmonica
琴 . こと . the koto, the Japanese harp
風琴 . フウキン . the organ, the harmonium
口風琴 . くちフウキン . the harmonica
手風琴 . てフウキン . the accordion
シロホン / シロフォン / シロフォーン / ザイロフォン . the xylophone
木琴 . モッキン . the xylophone
鉄琴 . テッキン . the metallophone
グロッケンシュピール . the glockenspiel (from German)
マリンバ . the marimba
ボンゴ . the bongo
鐘 . かね . the bell
ハンドベル . the handbell
ハンドチャイム . the handchime
バグパイプ / バッグパイプ . the bagpipes
ヴィブラフォン . the vibraphone
ティンパニ / ティンパニー . the timpani
マレット . the mallet
ドラムスティック . the drumstick
ドラム棒 . ドラムボウ . the drumstick
ブラシ . the brush
シンセサイザー . the synthesizer

It’s time to move on to explanations.

We have the word 音楽 . オンガク which means "the music", then we have the word 音楽室 . オンガクシツ which means "the music room". Note the kanji 室 . シツ which means "the room". It is a very common kanji in the Japanese language and that you will find regularly in this season, especially towards the end.

Then we have the following words:

西洋音楽 . セイヨウオンガク . the western music
東洋音楽 . トウヨウオンガク . the oriental music

The kanji 洋 . ヨウ means "the West". However, note the presence of the kanji 西 which means "the west" and the kanji 東 which means "the east". What is in the west is the West and what is in the east is the East.

In the word 電子音楽 . デンシオンガク, the word 電子 . デンシ means "the electronics" or "the electron" with the kanji 電 meaning "the electricity" and the kanji 子 meaning "the child". In English, the child of electricity is the electron.

In the word 現代音楽 . ゲンダイオンガク, the word 現代 . ゲンダイ means "nowadays" therefore "contemporary".

Finally, we have some instrument names in kanji. The 琴 . こと is a plucked string instrument used in traditional Japanese music. Originally imported from China and Korea around the 8th century, it is also nicknamed "the Japanese harp". It is positioned horizontally.

Then we have the words that are kanji transcriptions of instruments of Western origin:

風琴 . フウキン . the organ, the harmonium
口風琴 . くちフウキン . the harmonica
手風琴 . てフウキン . the accordion
木琴 . モッキン . the xylophone
鉄琴 . テッキン . the metallophone

You already know the katakana versions, you learned them in season one. To better understand why kanji names were given to Western instruments, you should know that the word 琴 . こと with the kanji 琴 used to designate a set of stringed instruments imported from the Asian continent. Those famous string instruments I mentioned above. When instruments like the organ, harmonium, harmonica, accordion, xylophone and metallophone appeared, the Japanese created kanji words for these instruments. They are not all string instruments. The xylophone and the metallophone for example are percussion instruments but in the end they still contain the kanji 琴.

In the word 風琴 . フウキン, you have the wind kanji, 風, because the organ and the harmonium are wind instruments. The purely Japanese pronunciation of the kanji is かぜ. The Sino-Japanese pronunciation is フウ.

In the word 口風琴 . くちフウキン, you have the wind kanji, 風, and the mouth kanji, 口, because the harmonica is a wind instrument in which one blows.

In the word 手風琴 . てフウキン, you have the wind kanji, 風, and the hand kanji, 手, because the accordion is a wind instrument that is handled with the hands.

In the word 木琴 . モッキン, you have the tree kanji, 木, because the xylophone is an instrument made up of wooden plates on which we strike to produce sounds. Here, the kanji 木 denotes "the wood" as a material.

In the word 鉄琴 . テッキン, you have the kanji of iron, 鉄, because the metallophone is an instrument composed of iron plates on which we strike to produce sounds.

Finally, a last word: シティ・ポップ. the City Pop. It is a musical current born in Japan. You may have heard of it, and maybe even listened to a few tracks. If you don’t know what it is, search the Internet. Maybe I’ll do a course on the subject.

This course is now complete. We haven’t seen the human body vocabulary lesson yet, but for now, memorize the words 口 . くち which means "the mouth" and 手 . て which means "the hand". Do not hesitate to re-read the course of the first season on musical instruments. You may find vocabulary words in the exercises.

The theme of music is extremely vast and it is not possible for me to give you all the vocabulary words in this glossary. I could also have told you how to say "the rock band", "the jazz band" or "the pop band". It’s very simple, just start from English:

ロックバンド . the rock band
ジャズバンド . the jazz band
ポップバンド . the pop band

The Japanese language is very easy because it is very logical. I have already told you. Once you understand how words are built, how particles work... all that’s left to do is practice.

Thank you for taking the time to read. Take the opportunity to revise your hiragana and your katakana, learn to write the few kanji we have seen so far and I wish you good luck in your homeworks.