Can you imagine a world without music?
1. Look at the photos and describe what you can see.
2. Discuss the questions.
● What kind of music do you enjoy listening to?
Calm or energetic music that has simple lyrics so I can sing sometimes.
● Do you prefer going to live concerts or watching concerts online/on TV?
I think it depends on my emotion but usually I prefer concerts online.
● Do you play or have you ever wanted to play an instrument?
I love playing instruments, also I have so many instruments in my home, guitar, bass,
electric guitar, piano, drumsticks and violin!
● How often do you listen to music? Is music just a pastime for you, or more than that?
Music is so much more than just a pastime for me. I listen to music for more than 8 h
ours every day and I play some instruments when I want to play a part of music I was
listening to.
3. Read the adjectives in the box. Do you know any of them?
calming, distracting, energizing, entertaining, entrancing, moving, relaxing, saddening, unsett
ling, uplifting
4. Match the adjectives in the box in ex. 3 to their meanings below.
MEANINGS:
making someone feel more relaxed and less emotional: calming
causing worry or anxiety: unsettling
making someone feel full of energy or enthusiasm: energizing
making someone feel better: uplifting
making someone feel emotional: moving
preventing someone from concentrating on something: distranting
pleasant and making someone feel less stressed: relaxing
funny and enjoyable: entertaining
making someone feel sad: saddening
beautiful or impressive in a way that it takes all of someone’s attention and they can’t stop lis
tening to or watching it: entrancing
5. Choose the most suitable adjectives in these sentences.
One of the documentary's many unsettling/calming images is of a child playing with
his father's gun.
People love charming and energizing/uplifting love stories with happy endings.
Everyone went silent when the room filled with the distracting/entrancing music.
The actors could feel that it was a deeply moving/relaxing experience for the audien
ce.
Taking long, deep breaths can have a calming/unsettling effect and reduce stress.
6. Read the quote below and answer the questions.
“Music is a language that doesn’t speak in particular words. It speaks in emotions.”
Keith Richards
Do you agree with the quote? How does music make you feel?
I do agree with the quote with the idea that music speaks in emotions as sounds (the music)
can make people feel a particular emotion.
What kind of music do you find (a) calming, (b) energizing, (c) entertaining?
7. Watch a short video [https://youtu.be/yFckWsYqvnk] and answer the questions.
Who are the people in the video?
Members that takes place of Australian Chamber Orchestra
Where are they?
Back stage of ACO On The Pier which is placed in Sydney's Walsh Bay.
What are they talking about?
What they think about a world without music.
8. Watch the video again and write down four effects that music has, according to the s
peakers.
● Music is a thing that keeps you alive. (Motivates us)
● Music gives Happiness. (makes us move)
● Music can heal us.
● Music can bring back memories.
9. Discuss the questions.
Can you imagine a world without music?
- I can’t clearly imagine a world without music as it takes up a big part of our world. But
if there is no music, people won't be able to express their emotion freely compared to
how we do in the present.
What role does music play in your life?
- For me music is a way to express myself more easily than just talking and satisfy my
needs in emotional situations.
Does any particular piece of music bring back memories of certain events, experiences or pe
riods in your life to you?
- I have heard a song called World's Smallest Violin by AJR. On the lyrics it says “My g
randpa fought in World War II. He was such a noble dude, I can't even finish school,
Missed my mom, and left too soon....” I felt this fits with my first days at school becau
se I could not do anything because I was scared and I started to get better when I sta
rted to get used to the situation.
What emotions may watching a live concert in a concert hall evoke in people, compared to w
atching it at home alone?
- I think listening live gives more energy and emotion than just listening online as there
are other people listening and enjoying together.
