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, November 23, 2022

80+ Basic Music Vocabulary In Japanese For Music Lovers

Are you a fan of J-Pop who wants to learn music vocabulary in Japanese? Here is the perfect vocabulary list for you!

Maybe, you’ve already listened to some Japanese music such as j-pop and you’ve become a big fan, like me. I think that’s a great reason to learn music vocabulary in Japanese so that you can talk about your favorite music genre and bands with Japanese people.

So, to talk about music in the Japanese language you need to learn music-related Japanese vocabulary, which you certainly will in this blog post right now!

By the way, it’s a low possibility but in case you haven’t encountered Japanese music yet, I’ll recommend you a few popular Japanese bands at the end of this blog post.

Let’s get started with the music genres in Japanese!

Music Genres In Japanese

The good news is that Japanese music vocabulary has a lot of words that are directly transferred or derived from English. So, if you’ve mastered hiragana and katakana, it’s as easy as pie to learn these words!

Rock-Metal

オルタナティヴ (orutanativu) — alternative
[Speechword voice=”Japanese Female” isinline]オルタナティヴ[/Speechword]
ガレージロック (Garēji rokku) — garage rock
[Speechword voice=”Japanese Female” isinline]ガレージロック[/Speechword]
グラムロック (Guramu rokku) — glam rock
[Speechword voice=”Japanese Female” isinline]グラムロック[/Speechword]
グランジ (Guranji) — grunge
[Speechword voice=”Japanese Female” isinline]グランジ[/Speechword]
パンクロック (ponku rokku) — punk rock
[Speechword voice=”Japanese Female” isinline]パンクロック[/Speechword]
デスメタル (desu metaru) — death metal
[Speechword voice=”Japanese Female” isinline]デスメタル [/Speechword]
ハードロック (Hādo rokku) — hard rock
[Speechword voice=”Japanese Female” isinline]ハードロック[/Speechword]
ブリティッシュロック (Buritisshu rokku) — British rock
[Speechword voice=”Japanese Female” isinline]ブリティッシュロック[/Speechword]
プログレッシヴロック (Puroguresshivu rokku) — progressive rock
[Speechword voice=”Japanese Female” isinline]プログレッシヴロック[/Speechword]
ヘヴィメタル (Hevui metaru) — heavy metal
[Speechword voice=”Japanese Female” isinline]ヘヴィメタル[/Speechword]
ロックンロール (rokkun rōru) — rock ‘n roll
[Speechword voice=”Japanese Female” isinline]ロックンロール[/Speechword]

Pop-Electronic

ハウス (hause) — house
[Speechword voice=”Japanese Female” isinline]ハウス[/Speechword]
ヒップホップ (ひっぷほっぷ) — hip-hop
[Speechword voice=”Japanese Female” isinline]ヒップホップ[/Speechword]
ファンク (fanku) — funk
[Speechword voice=”Japanese Female” isinline]ファンク[/Speechword]
ダブ (dabu) — dubstep
[Speechword voice=”Japanese Female” isinline]ダブ [/Speechword]
テクノ (tekuno) — techno
[Speechword voice=”Japanese Female” isinline]テクノ[/Speechword]
ブリットポップ (buritto poppu) — Brit pop
[Speechword voice=”Japanese Female” isinline]多ブリットポップ謝[/Speechword]
ポップ (poppu) — pop
[Speechword voice=”Japanese Female” isinline]ポップ [/Speechword]
ラップ (rappu) — rap
[Speechword voice=”Japanese Female” isinline]ラップ [/Speechword]
レゲエ (regae) — reggae
[Speechword voice=”Japanese Female” isinline]レゲエ[/Speechword]
アールアンドビー (aru ando bi) — R&B
[Speechword voice=”Japanese Female” isinline]アールアンドビー[/Speechword]

Folk-Country

カントリー (kantorī) — country
[Speechword voice=”Japanese Female” isinline]カントリー[/Speechword]
ブルース (burūsu) — blues
[Speechword voice=”Japanese Female” isinline]ブルース[/Speechword]
フォークロック (fōku rokku) — folk rock
[Speechword voice=”Japanese Female” isinline]フォークロック[/Speechword]

Classical-Jazz

クラシック (kurashikku) — classical
[Speechword voice=”Japanese Female” isinline]クラシック [/Speechword]
ジャズ (jazu) — jazz
[Speechword voice=”Japanese Female” isinline]ジャズ [/Speechword]
ソウル (souru) — soul
[Speechword voice=”Japanese Female” isinline]ソウル [/Speechword]

Musical Instruments In Japanese

楽器 (がっき) — instrument
[Speechword voice=”Japanese Female” isinline]楽器 [/Speechword]
ギター (ぎたー) — guitar
[Speechword voice=”Japanese Female” isinline]ギター [/Speechword]
ベース (べーす) — bass guitar
[Speechword voice=”Japanese Female” isinline]ベース[/Speechword]
ドラム (どらむ) — drumsy
[Speechword voice=”Japanese Female” isinline]ドラム[/Speechword]
ピアノ/キーボード (ぴあの・きーぼーど) — piano/keyboard
[Speechword voice=”Japanese Female” isinline]ピアノ[/Speechword]/[Speechword voice=”Japanese Female” isinline]キーボード[/Speechword]
マイク (まいく) — microphone
[Speechword voice=”Japanese Female” isinline]マイク[/Speechword]
バイオリン (ばいおりん) — violin
[Speechword voice=”Japanese Female” isinline]バイオリン[/Speechword]
チェロ (ちぇろ) — cello
[Speechword voice=”Japanese Female” isinline]チェロ[/Speechword]
トランペット (とらんぺっと) — trumpet
[Speechword voice=”Japanese Female” isinline]トランペット[/Speechword]
サックスフォン (さっくすふぉん) — saxophone
[Speechword voice=”Japanese Female” isinline]サックスフォン[/Speechword]
ハープ (はーぷ) — harp
[Speechword voice=”Japanese Female” isinline]ハープ[/Speechword]

Music Performers In Japanese

歌手 – かしゅ (kashu) — Singer
[Speechword voice=”Japanese Female” isinline]かしゅ[/Speechword]
ソプラノ歌手 – そぷらのかしゅ (sopurano kashu) — Soprano
[Speechword voice=”Japanese Female” isinline]そぷらのかしゅ[/Speechword]
作曲家 – さっきょくか (sakkyokuka) — Composer
[Speechword voice=”Japanese Female” isinline]さっきょくか[/Speechword]
音楽家 – おんがくか (ongakuka) — Musician
[Speechword voice=”Japanese Female” isinline]おんがくか[/Speechword]
パフォーマー (pafoomaa) — Performer
[Speechword voice=”Japanese Female” isinline]パフォーマー[/Speechword]
ポップスター (poppu sutaa) — Pop Star
[Speechword voice=”Japanese Female” isinline]ポップスター[/Speechword]
ラッパー (rappaa) — Rapper
[Speechword voice=”Japanese Female” isinline]ラッパー [/Speechword]
ギタリスト (gitarisuto) — Guitarist
[Speechword voice=”Japanese Female” isinline]ギタリスト [/Speechword]
ドラマー (doramaa) — Drummer
[Speechword voice=”Japanese Female” isinline]ドラマ[/Speechword]
ピアニスト (pianisuto) — Pianist
[Speechword voice=”Japanese Female” isinline]ピアニスト [/Speechword]
オルガン奏者 – おるがんそうしゃ (orugan sousha) — Organist
[Speechword voice=”Japanese Female” isinline]おるがんそうしゃ[/Speechword]
フルート奏者 – ふるうとそうしゃ (furūto sousha) — Flautist
[Speechword voice=”Japanese Female” isinline]ふるうとそうしゃ[/Speechword]
サックス奏者 – さっくすそうしゃ (sakkusu sousha) — Saxophonist
[Speechword voice=”Japanese Female” isinline]さっくすそうしゃ[/Speechword]
トランペット奏者 – とらんぺっとそうしゃ (toranpetto sousha) — Trumpeter
[Speechword voice=”Japanese Female” isinline]とらんぺっとそうしゃ[/Speechword]
トロンボーン奏者 – とろんぼおんそうしゃ (toronbōn sousha) — Trombonist
[Speechword voice=”Japanese Female” isinline]とろんぼおんそうしゃ[/Speechword]
バイオリニスト (baiorinisuto) — Violinist
[Speechword voice=”Japanese Female” isinline]バイオリニスト[/Speechword]

Must-Know Music Vocabulary In Japanese

音楽 (ongaku) — music
[Speechword voice=”Japanese Female” isinline]音楽 [/Speechword]
楽器 (gakki) — musical instrument
[Speechword voice=”Japanese Female” isinline]楽器 [/Speechword]
楽器店 (gakkiten) — musical instrument store
[Speechword voice=”Japanese Female” isinline]楽器店[/Speechword]
音符 (onpu) — note
[Speechword voice=”Japanese Female” isinline]音符 [/Speechword]
曲 (kyoku) — song (without words)
[Speechword voice=”Japanese Female” isinline]曲 [/Speechword]
歌 (uta) — song (with words)
[Speechword voice=”Japanese Female” isinline]歌 [/Speechword]
歌う (utau) — to sing
[Speechword voice=”Japanese Female” isinline]歌う [/Speechword]
作曲 (sakkyoku) — compose
[Speechword voice=”Japanese Female” isinline]作曲[/Speechword]
長調 (chouchou) — major key
[Speechword voice=”Japanese Female” isinline]長調 [/Speechword]
短調 (tanchou) — minor key
[Speechword voice=”Japanese Female” isinline]短調 [/Speechword]
音階 (onkai) — musical scale
[Speechword voice=”Japanese Female” isinline]音階 [/Speechword]
調律 (chouritsu) — tuning
[Speechword voice=”Japanese Female” isinline]調律 [/Speechword]
音程 (ontei) — interval
[Speechword voice=”Japanese Female” isinline]音程 [/Speechword]
調子 (choushi) — pitch, tone, rhythm
[Speechword voice=”Japanese Female” isinline]調子 [/Speechword]
リズム (rizumu) — rhythm
[Speechword voice=”Japanese Female” isinline]リズム [/Speechword]
テンポ (tenpo) — tempo
[Speechword voice=”Japanese Female” isinline]テンポ [/Speechword]
音 (oto or ne) — sound
[Speechword voice=”Japanese Female” isinline]音 [/Speechword]
音を出す (oto wo dasu) — to produce a sound
[Speechword voice=”Japanese Female” isinline]音を出す[/Speechword]
響く (hibiku) — to ring, to resonate
[Speechword voice=”Japanese Female” isinline]響く [/Speechword]
ピッチ (picchi) — pitch
[Speechword voice=”Japanese Female” isinline]ピッチ[/Speechword]
大きい (ookii) — loud
[Speechword voice=”Japanese Female” isinline]大きい[/Speechword]
小さい (chiisai) — soft
[Speechword voice=”Japanese Female” isinline]小さい[/Speechword]
演奏 (ensou) — performance
[Speechword voice=”Japanese Female” isinline]演奏 [/Speechword]
発表会 (happyoukai) — recital
[Speechword voice=”Japanese Female” isinline]発表会[/Speechword]
練習 (renshuu) — practice
[Speechword voice=”Japanese Female” isinline]練習 [/Speechword]
楽譜 (gakufu) — sheet music
[Speechword voice=”Japanese Female” isinline]楽譜 [/Speechword]
奏でる (kanaderu) — to play an instrument
[Speechword voice=”Japanese Female” isinline]奏でる [/Speechword]
弾く (hiku) — to play a stringed instrument
[Speechword voice=”Japanese Female” isinline]弾く [/Speechword]
吹く (fuku) — to play a wind instrument
[Speechword voice=”Japanese Female” isinline]吹く [/Speechword]
叩く (tataku) — to play a percussion instrument
[Speechword voice=”Japanese Female” isinline]叩く [/Speechword]

Popular Japanese Bands You Must Listen

Japanese pop and rock culture are famous worldwide. Especially, there are some bands that are the symbols of J-POP (Japanese pop music) and J-ROCK (Japanese rock music). Here are 3 popular Japanese idol groups.

1. One Ok Rock

Year Formed: 2005

Members: Takahiro Moriuchi, Toru Yamashita, Ryota Kohama, Tomoya Kanki

One Ok Rock is a Japanese band from Tokyo, Japan, that plays various music styles ranging from alternative rock to pop-rock. It is one of the Japanese bands that produces both Japanese and English songs.

One Ok Rock won the Eastern Breakthrough Male Band Award at the Classic Rock Roll of Honor Awards and the Best International Band at the Rock Sound Awards in 2017 and the Best Japanese Act Award at the MTV Europe Music Awards in 2016.

Favorite songs from the band:

2. AKB48

Year formed: 2005

Members: As of May 24, 2022, the group consists of 73 active members.

AKB is an abbreviation for the mecca of Japanese pop culture Akihabara where AKB48 is based and has its own theater to perform.

Akihabara is one of the most famous places in Tokyo for Japanese pop culture where a great number of foreign visitors travel seeking manga and anime and other cool and geeky items. The girl group AKB48 is the symbol of the town.

Favorite songs from the band:

3. The Gazette

Year Formed: 2002

Members: Ruki, Uruha, Aoi, Reita, Kai, Yune

The Gazette is a Japanese band from Kanagawa, Japan, currently signed under Sony Music Records. The band is a visual kei metal Japanese band. They are one of the most popular bands in the industry with numerous best-selling songs

Favorite songs from the band:

Learn Japanese With Ling App!

If you want to learn Japanese, among the 60+ languages offered in the app, the Ling App is here for you!

The Ling App provides a wealth of Japanese vocabulary that you can learn at your own pace. Just grab your iOS or Android device right now and head to Google Play Store or Apple App Store to download it. Mini-games, puzzles, and AI chatbots to practice Japanese speaking skills are just a few of the interactive activities to help you learn Japanese easily.

Plus, don’t forget to visit our Japanese blog weekly to learn more about Japanese culture and language!

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Until next time, じゃあまたね!

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