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Thread: on my music

  1. #1
    allthewayanime is offline Member
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    Default on my music

    Is it correct to say 'She was taking a shower on my music' (meaning that she was listening to my music)?

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    Default Re: on my music

    I'd use only 'to'.
    emsr2d2 likes this.
    Context is always important; labelling is rarely important.


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    allthewayanime is offline Member
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    Threadstarter / Original Poster

    Default Re: on my music

    Would both options be correct : to the sound of the music/to the beat of the music or on the sound of the music/on the beat of the music?

  4. #4
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    Default Re: on my music

    Quote Originally Posted by allthewayanime View Post
    Would both options be correct : to the sound of the music/to the beat of the music or on the sound of the music/on the beat of the music?
    Others may not agree, but 'on' sounds unnatural to me.

    If she were taking a shower to the beat of the music, it might be entertaining to watch.

    Did I write that?
    No, mate - it was a passing troll.
    Phew! That's a relief.
    Barb_D, bhaisahab, emsr2d2 and 2 others like this.
    Context is always important; labelling is rarely important.


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    emsr2d2 is offline VIP Member
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    Default Re: on my music

    We generally do something "to" music.

    She is dancing to rap music.
    She is dancing to the music.
    She is clapping to the beat of the music.

    You can use "on the beat" but it's more of a musical term to show that someone is doing something on the main beat ie in time to the strongest beat of the music.

    - You are clapping off beat.
    - Am I?
    - Yes, I need you to clap on the first beat of each bar.
    - Was I not doing that?
    - No, you were clapping on the half beat. That won't work! It proves you're good at syncopation but that's not what I asked you to do.

    I don't know if you are musical at all but if you listen to a piece of music, you can count along with the beats. The most common time for music is 4/4 (pronounced four four). That means that you can count "1, 2, 3, 4" in time with the music. Sometimes you can only count to 3, it depends on the rhythm of the music. If you add the half beats, you count "1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and". Someone clapping on the beat would clap at the same time as they say "1, 2, 3, 4". Clapping on the half-beat would be clapping each time you say "and" instead.
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    allthewayanime is offline Member
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    Threadstarter / Original Poster

    Default Re: on my music

    Would it be also acceptable to say 'on the sound of the music'?

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    emsr2d2 is offline VIP Member
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    Default Re: on my music

    Quote Originally Posted by allthewayanime View Post
    Would it be also acceptable to say 'on the sound of the music'?
    No. When you say "Would it also be acceptable to say ... ?", what does the "also" refer to. Apart from my example with "on the beat", we have said that "to" is the correct preposition.

    She is dancing to music.
    She is dancing to the beat of the music.
    She is dancing to the sound of the music.

    I really can't think of a way to use "on" in the way you seem to want to, apart from "on the beat" and that has a different meaning to the one you started with.

    She was taking a shower to my music.
    She was taking a shower to the sound of my music.

    I agree with 5jj, though. People don't generally take a shower "to music". That means that everything they do in the shower is somehow connected to the music, perhaps done in time, on the beat, in rhythm. That would be rather unusual.

    She was taking a shower while listening to my music.
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  8. #8
    allthewayanime is offline Member
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    Default Re: on my music

    OK, got it!
    But regarding music (in general) we say 'in rhythm of the music' or 'on rhythm of the music'?
    Also regarding 'on the beat of the music' would both options be correct then: Mark's clapping on/to the beat of the music.

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    Default Re: on my music

    Quote Originally Posted by allthewayanime View Post
    OK, got it!
    But regarding music (in general) we say 'in rhythm of the music' or 'on rhythm of the music'?
    I say "in rhythm TO the music" or "in rhythm WITH the music."

    Also regarding 'on the beat of the music' would both options be correct then: Mark's clapping on/to the beat of the music. As ems explained, clapping ON the beat is something you do in music class or as you are learning a piece of music. When you are simply an audience member or listener, you clap TO the beat.
    .
    BobSmith likes this.
    I'm not a teacher, but I write for a living. Please don't ask me about 2nd conditionals, but I'm a safe bet for what reads well in (American) English.

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    allthewayanime is offline Member
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    Default Re: on my music

    Thank you for replying!

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