Idiom Category: Music, Page 1

And all that jazz

This idiom means that everything related or similar is included.

Bells on

(USA) To be somewhere with bells on means to arrive there happy and delighted to attend.

Blow your own horn

If you blow your own horn, you boast about your achievements and abilities. ('Blow your own trumpet' is an alternative form.)

Blow your own trumpet

If someone blows their own trumpet, they boast about their talents and achievements.  ('Blow your own horn' is an alternative form.)

Call the tune

The person who calls the tune makes the important decisions about something.

Change your tune

If someone changes their ideas or the way they talk about them, they change their tune.

Clear as a bell

If something is as clear as a bell, it is very clear or easy to understand.

Face the music

If you have to face the music, you have to accept the negative consequences of something you have done wrong.

Fiddle while Rome burns

If people are fiddling while Rome burns, they are wasting their time on futile things while problems threaten to destroy them.

Fine tuning

Small adjustments to improve something or to get it working are called fine tuning.

Fit as a fiddle

If you are fit as a fiddle, you are in perfect health.

For a song

If you buy or sell something for a song, it is very cheap.

Hit the right note

If you hit the right note, you speak or act in a way that has a positive effect on people.('Strike the right note' is also used.)

It takes two to tango

This idiom is used to suggest that when things go wrong, both sides are involved and neither side is completely innocent.

March to the beat of your own drum

If people march to the beat of their own drum, they do things the way they want without taking other people into consideration.

Music to my ears

If something someone says is music to your ears, it is exactly what you had wanted to hear.

Play by ear

If you play by ear, you deal with something in an impromptu manner, without guidelines or rules. It refers to playing music without using written notation.

Play second fiddle

If you play second fiddle, you take a subordinate role behind someone more important.

Pull out all the stops

If you pull out all the stops, you do everything you possibly can to achieve the result you want.

See you on the big drum

A good night phrase to children.

Strike a chord

If strikes a chord, it is familiar to you, reminds you of something or is connected to you somehow.

Swan song

A swan song is a final act before dying or ending something.

Toot your own horn

If someone toot their own horn, they like to boast about their achievements.

Whistle for it

If someone says that you can whistle for something, they are determined to ensure that you don't get it.

Whistle-stop tour

A whistle-stop tour is when someone visits a number of places quickly, not stopping for long.

Whistling Dixie

(USA) If someone is whistling Dixie, they talk about things in a more positive way than the reality.

Whistling in the dark

If someone is whistling in the dark, they believe in a positive result, even though everybody else is sure it will not happen.

You can't unring a bell

This means that once something has been done, you have to live with the consequences as it can't be undone.

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