Íslenzka.net ~ An Icelandic Journey

Of Monsters and Men played the Paramount in Seattle last night, so a music-themed post seemed appropriate 🙂 I had been waiting for them to come back and it was awesome to finally see them in concert! They put on an amazing show – if you ever have the chance to see them live, I highly recommend it 🙂

Icelandic is known for not using many loanwords, but most of the words for the different types of music are similar to English:

djass                           jazz
blús                            blues
kántri                          country
rokk                            rock
þungarokk			hard rock/heavy metal
pönkari                         punk
popp                            pop
teknó                           techno
klassísk                        classical

You may see either of two verbs when talking about playing music or an instrument:

Hann spilar á píanó. – He plays the piano.
Hún lék með þeim á bassa. – She played with them on bass.

Typically the suffix -leikari is used for a person who plays a particular instrument, as in :
selló·leikari – celloist (cello player)
fiðlu·leikari – violinist
flautu·leikari – flautist (flutist)

Talking about your favorite bands:
Hverjar eru uppáhalds hljómsveitirnar þín? – Who are your favorite bands?
Uppáhalds hljómsveitin mín er… – My favorite band is…

A long but not exhaustive list of music-related vocabulary:

tón·list f (-ar)                music
tón·leikar m pl                 concert
lag n (-s, lög)                 song, tune
plata f (plötu, plötur)         record, album
hljóð·færi n (-s,-)             musical instrument
hljóm·sveit f (-ar,-ir)         orchestra, band
Sinfóníuhljómsveit Íslands      Icelandic Symphony
selló n (-s,-)                  cello
trompet m (-s,-ar)              trumpet
lúð/ur m (-urs,-rar)            horn, trumpet
básún/a f (-u,-ur)              trombone
saxó·fón/n m (-s,-ar)           saxophone
gítar m (-s,-ar)                guitar
fiðl/a f (-u,-ur)               violin, fiddle
víóla f (-u,-ur)                viola
bass/i m (-a,-ar)               bass
flaut/a f (-u,-ur)              flute
óbó n (-s,-)                    oboe
klarínett/a f (-u,-ur)          clarinet
fagott n (-s,-)                 bassoon
horn n (-s,-)                   horn
túb/a f (-u,-ur)                tuba
harpa f (hörpu,hörpur)          harp 
píanó n (-s,-)                  piano
pákur                           timpani
slag·verk n (-s)                percussion
tromm/a f (-u,-ur)              drum

Sinfóníuhljómsveit Íslands – Icelandic Symphony Orchestra
Harpa – Harpa Concert Hall
Iceland Airwaves Music Festival