Listening Course
-
Lesson 1 – Life As An Astronaut4 Activities
-
Lesson 2 – Playing Musical Instruments4 Activities
-
Lesson 3 – Internet Addiction5 Activities
-
Lesson 4 – Exercise Habits & Mistakes4 Activities
-
Lesson 5 – Animal Intelligence4 Activities
-
Lesson 6 – Worst Job4 Activities
-
Lesson 7 – A Brief History Of Jeans4 Activities
-
Lesson 8 – College & Career4 Activities
-
Lesson 9 – Urban Agriculture4 Activities
-
Lesson 10 – Life In NYC7 Activities
-
Lesson 11 – Stay-At-Home Dads4 Activities
-
Lesson 12 – Embarrassing Moments4 Activities
-
Lesson 13 – The Stanford Prison Experiment4 Activities
-
Lesson 14 – About My Pets4 Activities
-
Lesson 15 – The LEGO Story4 Activities
-
Lesson 16 – Favorite Movie/Book4 Activities
-
Lesson 17 – Tattoos In Different Cultures4 Activities
-
Lesson 18 – Parents4 Activities
-
Lesson 19 – Origin Of Santa Claus4 Activities
-
Lesson 20 – Just In Time!4 Activities
-
Lesson 21 – U.K. Vs. U.S. Business Culture4 Activities
-
Lesson 22 – Broken Bone4 Activities
-
Lesson 23 – The Amazing Human Body4 Activities
-
Lesson 24 – American Football4 Activities
-
Lesson 25 – Wedding Traditions4 Activities
-
Lesson 26 – Study Abroad4 Activities
-
Lesson 27 – The Tiny House Movement4 Activities
-
Lesson 28 – What’s Your Pet Peeve?4 Activities
-
Lesson 29 – The Jackie Robinson Story4 Activities
-
Lesson 30 – Childhood Memories4 Activities
-
Lesson 31 – A Fairy Tale5 Activities
-
Lesson 32 – Grandparents4 Activities
-
Lesson 33 – Urban Legends4 Activities
-
Lesson 34 – Achieving Goals4 Activities
-
Lesson 35 – Creative Work Environments4 Activities
-
Lesson 36 – Mistakes4 Activities
-
Lesson 37 – Best Pranks In History4 Activities
-
Lesson 38 – Vacation4 Activities
-
Lesson 39 – Junk Food4 Activities
-
Lesson 40 – Abilities4 Activities
-
Lesson 41 – World-Changing Mistakes4 Activities
-
Lesson 42 – Volunteer Work4 Activities
-
Lesson 43 – Utopia & Dystopia4 Activities
-
Lesson 44 – If I Were President…4 Activities
-
Lesson 45 – The Future Of Medicine4 Activities
-
Your Feedback & Next Steps
Full Transcript + Extra vocabulary
Download: Text / Slow Audio / Fast Audio
Click to expand the full transcript
Hi, my name is Peter, and I wanted to tell you about some of the musical instruments that I have played. I have played the clarinet, the recorder, the guitar, the bass guitar, the piano, and the instrument I’ve played the most is the trumpet. I started playing trumpet in sixth grade, and played all the way through twelfth grade on a regular basis.
One of the hardest things about learning to play trumpet is how to position your lips. With a clarinet you have a reed, and with a guitar you have a string, to make the sounds that you need. But with trumpet, you have to hold your lips in just the right way in order to make the proper sound. One of the tricks my teacher taught me was to say the letter “M” – once I say the letter “M,” then I have my lips in the proper position to play.
The cool thing about playing trumpet is that it can play a wide variety of music. I was able to be in the jazz band, the marching band, concert band, and pit band, because I knew how to play – and we had a lot of wonderful experiences.
The really neat thing about playing an instrument like this is it’s best when you play in a group – and music has a way of bonding people. I made new friends, I made old friendships stronger, and it was a really neat experience to be able to perform for an audience. We performed for a wide variety of groups, and it’s – there’s something about music that really entertains people.
Now I haven’t been playing my trumpet since high school, but I do play guitar. And one of the great things about guitar is that you will run into a lot more guitar players – and so there’s greater opportunity for collaboration, and just sitting down and having a good time on the spot.
The hardest thing about playing guitar is teaching your hands to do what you want them to do. It’s all about muscle memory. You may know in your head what you wanna do, but you have to help your fingers learn where to go, playing chords, getting your fingers to move to the proper spots every time.
The other difficult thing that you might run into is fatigue. After a while, your hands just get tired in the beginning. But as you keep playing and building up your muscles, that won’t be a problem anymore.
One of the things that I like most about guitar is that I can listen to a song on the radio, and learn how to play it – AND sing along with it. With my trumpet, I could either sing or play – but with my guitar I can do both. I enjoy playing for friends and family, with friends and family, and sometimes just sitting down and playing for myself.
But if you get the chance to play a musical instrument, I hope you take that opportunity. It really is a fun time. I’ve had so much fun throughout my life because of music – and it’s something that you just can’t compare to anything else. So I hope you take the opportunity, and thanks for taking the time to listen.
Additional Vocabulary Lessons Related to Music:
- Musical instruments with pictures
- Music vocabulary builder
- English with Music:
- Adele – Someone Like You
- Kelly Clarkson – Stronger
- Katy Perry – The One that Got Away