Learn English with this music English lesson

Intro

1. Learn Vocabulary - Learn some new vocabulary before you start the lesson.

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• dub
• ska
• dreadlocks
• vibe

• signature
• beat
• phenomenon
• subgenre

• production value
• instrumental

2. Read and Prepare - Read the introduction and prepare to hear the audio.

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Even someone who isn’t a reggae fan can identify the music instantly by its signature beat. Thanks to artists like Bob Marley, the island sound is now a global phenomenon.

Of course, there’s more to reggae than one artist. There’s a history to this music and many different subgenres. From the fast and exciting dancehall, to the often instrumental and more simplistic dub and ska, reggae is a diverse musical culture that’s about more than just dreadlocks and marijuana.

Sara recently discovered that she likes reggae. Listen to her and Jeff discuss the Rasta vibes they like best in this music English lesson.

Dialog

1. Listen and Read - Listen to the audio and read the dialog at the same time.

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2. Study - Read the dialog again to see how the vocab words are used.

Sara

Jeff

Sara:  So, you know, when I was a teenager I really didn’t like reggae music. I found it just annoying and I thought annoying people listened to it, but I’ve really changed in the last couple of years.

Jeff:  What brought that about?

Sara:  I guess it’s because I discovered old reggae music, like older reggae and ska and dub and I just like it a lot more.

Jeff:  I like that stuff too. I think once people figure out that reggae isn’t just about, you know, Bob Marley, it becomes a lot more interesting.

Sara:  Who are some of your favorite reggae artists?

Jeff:  I like a lot of old ska stuff. I like Augustus Pablo. He plays the melodica, instrumental stuff.

Sara:  Cool.

Jeff:  I like the more mellow stuff, not quite the upbeat dance hall scene, really.

Sara:  Yeah. There’s a lot of cool production values on a lot of that stuff, like the way they use echo and all that stuff.

Jeff:  Yeah, and how they did it on a low, low budget. With almost no money, they made something original and great out of living in a poor, poor situation. None of those guys had very much money, but they were very innovative.

Sara:  I guess that’s why reggae is cool.

Jeff:  It is.

Grammar Point

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Quizzes

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Lesson MP3

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