Music and performance: IELTS Speaking Part 3 questions & answers

Opening question

Warm-up: close to home

1. Compare

   How do people's tastes in music tend to change as they get older?

   2
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   Sample answerBand 8ThenNowWhy it changed

   1. Then→
   2. Now→
   3. Why it changed

   When we're teenagers, music is often tied up with identity, so we cling to whatever our friends are listening to and dismiss everything else as embarrassing. As people get older, they tend to become far more open-minded, and it's quite common for someone in their forties to discover jazz or classical music they'd have mocked at fifteen. I'd put that down to confidence, because once you no longer need music to prove who you are, you're free to simply enjoy it.

   tied up with identity

   closely connected to your sense of who you are

   dismiss everything else as

   reject everything else as being

   put that down to

   believe that is the cause of it

   81 words · about 35 seconds spoken

Development: society

1. Opinion

   Do you think learning a musical instrument is good for children?

   3
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   Sample answerBand 8My viewWhyExampleBut

   1. My view→
   2. Why→
   3. Example→
   4. But

   Absolutely, though perhaps not for the reasons parents usually give. People often claim it makes children cleverer, but the real benefit is the discipline of practising something difficult every day and noticing that progress, however slow, does come. A child who spends months struggling with a simple piano piece and then finally plays it through learns a lesson about persistence that no lecture could teach. The catch is that forcing a reluctant child through years of lessons can backfire and leave them resenting music for life.

   however slow

   no matter how slow it is

   The catch is that

   the hidden problem or disadvantage is

   can backfire

   can produce the opposite of the intended result

   86 words · about 37 seconds spoken

2. Compare

   How has technology changed the way people listen to music?

   4
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   Sample answerBand 8ThenNowWhy it changed

   1. Then→
   2. Now→
   3. Why it changed

   A generation ago, listening to music took a bit of effort, since you had to buy a whole album, and you'd often play it from start to finish because that's all you had. These days almost every song ever recorded is available instantly on a phone, so people tend to skip between tracks and rely on algorithms to decide what comes next. Streaming made music practically free at the point of use, and once something is that abundant, we naturally start treating it as background rather than an event.

   from start to finish

   the whole way through

   free at the point of use

   costing nothing at the moment you use it

   treating it as background

   giving it little attention while doing other things

   89 words · about 39 seconds spoken

3. Cause and effect

   Why do you think live performances are still so popular?

   5
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   Sample answerBand 8Main causeAnother causeEffect

   1. Main cause→
   2. Another cause→
   3. Effect

   The main draw, I'd say, is the shared atmosphere, because there's something electrifying about thousands of strangers reacting to the same moment together. There's also the sense of authenticity, since a live show can't be edited or perfected, so you're seeing what the performers can genuinely do. That probably explains why, even though recorded music has never been cheaper, people happily pay a small fortune for concert tickets, and many artists now make most of their living on tour.

   The main draw

   the biggest attraction

   a small fortune

   a large amount of money

   make most of their living

   earn most of their income

   79 words · about 34 seconds spoken

Depth: the abstract and the future

1. Opinion

   Should traditional music be protected as part of a country's culture?

   6
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   Sample answerBand 8My viewWhyExampleBut

   1. My view→
   2. Why→
   3. Example→
   4. But

   On the whole, yes, because once a musical tradition dies out, it's almost impossible to revive. These songs often carry a community's history, its dialects and its way of seeing the world, so losing them is a bit like losing a library. In my country, a lot of rural folk songs were only ever passed down orally, and some survive today only because researchers recorded elderly singers while there was still time. Protection shouldn't mean freezing that music in a museum, though, because traditions stay healthiest when young musicians feel free to adapt them.

   dies out

   disappears completely over time

   passed down orally

   taught by word of mouth, not written down

   while there was still time

   before it was too late

   94 words · about 41 seconds spoken

2. The future

   How might the way people experience music change in the future?

   7
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   Sample answerBand 8PredictionBecauseBut

   1. Prediction→
   2. Because→
   3. But

   My guess is that music will become far more personalised, perhaps adapting in real time to your mood, your heart rate or even the weather outside. We're already used to apps that recommend songs based on our habits, so a soundtrack that responds to what we're doing seems like the next logical step. Then again, the more tailored music becomes, the more people might crave experiences they can share, so I wouldn't be surprised if small, intimate gigs became more fashionable rather than less.

   in real time

   instantly, at the same moment things happen

   the next logical step

   the natural development after this one

   I wouldn't be surprised if

   I think it is quite likely that

   84 words · about 37 seconds spoken

3. What if

   If music disappeared from public life, what effect would it have?

   8
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   Sample answerBand 8If soResultWider effect

   1. If so→
   2. Result→
   3. Wider effect

   If music vanished from shops, streets and public events, the first thing we'd notice would be how strangely flat and lifeless everything felt. Ceremonies like graduations or national celebrations would lose much of their emotional weight, because it's often the music that tells us when to feel proud or moved. Over time, I imagine communities would become a little more fragmented, since singing together is one of the oldest ways humans have of building a sense of belonging.

   flat and lifeless

   dull and lacking energy

   emotional weight

   the power to make people feel strongly

   a sense of belonging

   the feeling of being part of a group

   78 words · about 34 seconds spoken

4. Pros and cons

   Is music a more powerful way of expressing feelings than words?

   9
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   Sample answerBand 8UpsideDownsideOn balance

   1. Upside→
   2. Downside→
   3. On balance

   In many situations, yes, because music bypasses our rational mind and hits us directly, which is why a film score can make an audience cry before anything sad has actually happened. The weakness is that music is imprecise, so it can create a mood but it can't explain a complicated feeling or tell someone exactly why you're upset with them. I'd conclude that they do different jobs, and arguably the most powerful expression of all is a song, where the two work hand in hand.

   bypasses our rational mind

   affects our emotions without going through logical thought

   do different jobs

   serve different purposes

   work hand in hand

   operate closely together

   85 words · about 37 seconds spoken