Music

Music is one of those topics where everyone has something to say, whether it’s about favorite artists or how streaming has changed the industry. These questions cover everything from listening habits and live music to the cultural and philosophical side of how we make and consume music.

Questions are organized by level from beginner to advanced. A printable PDF of all the questions is available at the bottom of the page.

Beginner (A1-A2)

1. Who are your favorite bands or artists? What do you like about their music?
2. How often do you listen to music? What do you usually do while listening?
3. When was the last time you found a new band or song you love? Why do like them or it so much?
4. How do you usually discover and listen to new music – streaming, social media, friends, or another way? What do you like about that method?
5. What kind of music do you listen to when you want to dance?
6. What kind of music do you listen to when you are feeling sad? Does it help you feel better, or do you prefer to stay in that mood for a while?
7. Is there a certain song or type of music that makes you really energetic?
8. What music did your parents listen to when you were growing up? Do you enjoy any of the same music now?
9. What’s the best concert you’ve ever been to? Tell me about it.
10. Who introduced you to your favorite type of music? What did they tell you about it?
11. Do you sing along when you listen to music? What songs do you know all the words to?
12. How many different playlists do you have? What are they for?
13. What is the first song you remember hearing as a child? Who used to play it?
14. Do you ever listen to music from other countries? What are some good ones you’ve found?
15. Have you ever tried to play a musical instrument? What happened?
16. Have you ever learned the words to a song in a language you don’t speak?

Elementary (A2)

1. Do you prefer listening to music with lyrics or instrumental music? What’s good about each?
2. What instrument would you like to learn? What sounds good about it?
3. What’s the most annoying song that gets stuck in your head? Why is it so hard to stop?
4. What music do you listen to on a long car ride or bus trip? What makes it good for traveling?
5. Do you listen to music in English or your native language more? Why?
6. What kind of music don’t you like? Why?
7. What’s the worst concert or live performance you’ve seen? Why was it so bad?
8. Have you ever had a song ruin a good memory or make a bad one better? Tell me about it.
9. Do you think your music taste has changed since you were a teenager? How?
10. Do you follow any musicians on social media? Why did you start following them?
11. What music do you put on when you’re cooking or cleaning? Why that kind?

Intermediate (B1)

1. Have you ever illegally downloaded music? Do you think it is okay or not okay to download music illegally?
2. Do you think music is getting better or worse over time? Why do you feel that way, and can you give an example?
3. What kind of music do you think your kids will listen to in the future? Do you think it will be similar to or very different from what you listen to now? Why?
4. How do you feel about your country’s traditional music?
5. Should people try to modernize traditional music? Why or why not?
6. How is your country’s traditional music different from other countries’ traditional music?
7. What kind of music do you think is overrated? Why?
8. Should music with offensive or violent lyrics be banned? Why or why not?
9. How do you feel about musicians using their fame to talk about politics? Is it common in your culture or country?
10. How do you feel about AI-generated music? Should it be considered real music?
11. What do you think is more important in a song – the lyrics or the melody? Explain your view.
12. If you could only listen to one genre of music for the rest of your life, what would it be? Explain your thinking.
13. Do you think music awards like the Grammys actually pick the best music? What would make them better?
14. What do you think happens when a small artist suddenly becomes famous? What are the downsides?
15. If you could go back in time to see any concert in history, which one would you choose? What makes it special?
16. Do you think it matters if a musician writes their own songs or not? How much does it affect how you see them?

Upper-Intermediate (B2)

1. Should governments spend money supporting local music scenes? When is it worth it?
2. How has streaming changed the music industry? What do you think about those changes?
3. How is music produced today different from music produced 30 years ago? How have those changes affected what we listen to?
4. How do music algorithms and recommendation systems influence what people discover and listen to? What are the benefits and drawbacks of this?
5. How has the role of music videos changed from the MTV era to the YouTube and TikTok era? What has stayed the same and what has changed?
6. Compare how different countries use music in national celebrations and political events. What does this reveal about those cultures?
7. What impact does background music have on businesses like restaurants, stores, and gyms? How do they use it to influence customer behavior?
8. How do copyright laws around music sampling affect creativity and innovation? How well do current laws balance the interests of original artists and new creators?
9. Compare how music therapy is used in different medical and educational settings. What evidence supports its effectiveness?
10. How has the decline of physical music formats like CDs and vinyl affected music culture, artwork, and the listening experience? What has been gained and what has been lost?
11. What role does music play in film and television, and how has that relationship changed over the past few decades? How much do soundtracks affect you personally?

Advanced (C1)

1. How might music streaming platforms simultaneously democratize music access and reinforce existing patterns of inequality in the industry?
2. To what extent does popular music shape our understanding of social movements versus simply reflect what’s already happening in society?
3. What does the rise of AI-generated music reveal about our underlying assumptions regarding creativity, authorship, and artistic value?
4. To what extent do music genres serve as authentic cultural expressions versus marketing constructs created by the industry? How has this relationship evolved?
5. To what extent can music transcend language and cultural barriers versus being fundamentally rooted in specific cultural contexts? What does this tension tell us about the nature of human communication?
6. What tensions arise when music originally created as political protest becomes mainstream entertainment? How does commercialization transform the meaning and impact of protest music?
7. How might the nostalgia industry in music – rereleases, reunion tours, tribute acts – both satisfy a genuine emotional need and prevent cultural progress toward new artistic forms?
8. How do the politics and state of the world change what types of music are created?
9. What does the persistence of live music in an age of perfect digital reproduction reveal about human needs for shared physical experience, ritual, and communal identity?
10. To what extent should the economic value of music be determined by market forces versus cultural policy, and what underlying assumptions about art and labor does each approach reveal?

PDF: Download a PDF of all the questions