Music
Topic specific Spanish practice exercises
Close your eyes and be soothed, sit down and be swept away, or stand up and dance like no one's watching! Discover the music and musicians of the Spanish-speaking world.
- Arón Bitrán: a Chilean violinist
Learn about Arón Bitrán, a famous Chilean violinist. - At the opera
Ana plans to go to the opera tonight. - Blanca Paloma: Spanish candidate 2023
Meet Blanca Paloma, Spain's candidate for Eurovision 2023. - Dancing, dancing, dancing
Sol tells us why she loves dancing salsa. - I am a mariachi
Meet Alejandro, a Mexican mariachi. - I like playing the tambourine
Learn about the most famous Spanish musical instrument during Christmas. - Las Goyescas
Amanda is excited about her next musical viewing the Goya rooms at the Prado Museum. - Maná: a Mexican band
Marina loves listening to Maná. - Miss Caffeina
Rubén tells us about his favourite Spanish band. - My favourite Christmas carol
David likes Christmas carols but he loves one in particular. - My favourite song
Marta tells us about her favourite Spanish song. - Rebeca Lane
Benito talks about his favourite singer. - Sevillana classes
Jacinta is learning how to dance sevillanas for when she attends the Feria de Málaga. - The Paloma
Arnaldo is attending a zarzuela with his brother called "La verbena de la Paloma". - Ainhoa Arteta: a Spanish soprano
Learn about Ainhoa Arteta, a famous Spanish soprano. - Aragonese jota
Pilar tells us about her local dance, the Aragonese jota. - Drums
Learn about the origin of drums. - Efecto pasillo
Vera was having a bad day till the happy music of her favourite Spanish band brought some colour back into her life. - Flamenco
Candela talks about the origin of flamenco. - In a karaoke bar
Marta tells us about the hilarious and unpredictable world of karaoke nights. - La, la, la: the Spanish song that won the Eurovision Song Contest
Discover when Spain won the Eurovision Song Contest, for the first time. - Learning the guitar
Lucas tells us about how he is learning to play the guitar. - Marc Anthony
Daniel talks about a Puerto Rican super star. - Mecano: a Spanish pop band
Learn about Mecano, a famous Spanish band from the eighties. - Muñeira
Felipe describes the "muñeira" dance. - Music is magic
Omar describes how music has the power to change your mood. - OTI Festival
Learn about this now-defunct song festival. - Rancheras
Miguel is a fan of Mexican folk music. - Seville inspires
Macarena explains how her city, Seville, has been the inspiration for not only flamenco music but also really famous operas. - Shakira's extravagant habits
Discover some of Shakira's extravagant habits. - Tania León: a Cuban conductor
Learn about Tania León, a famous Cuban conductor. - The cajón
Marcelo explains what a cajón is. - The Prince of Salsa
Meet Luis Enrique Mejía, The Prince of Salsa. - Wind instruments united in fun and music
See how Samuel and his wind instrument friends blend joy and melodies together. - Aguas de marzo
Listen to the Spanish-language version of a song originally written by the Brazilian Tom Jobim. - El concierto de Aranjuez
Learn about this beautiful guitar concerto, written by Joaquín Rodrigo while you practise El Futuro Próximo and the gender and number of nouns that do not end in -o/-a. - En un festival de música
A2 Spanish interactive reading article - La Roja baila
This reading and listening exercise is based on a song by the Spanish national football team. - Las tunas en el día de la Inmaculada
This reading and listening exercise is about the Spanish tradition of Las Tunas. - No tengo miedo - Halloween song
It's Halloween! How about practising your Spanish with this cute song? - Song "Mediterráneo" by Ana Belén and Joan Manuel Serrat
This reading and listening exercise is based on the lyrics of the Spanish song Mediterráneo written by singer-songwriter Joan Manuel Serrat. - Súbeme la radio - Enrique Iglesias
This reading and listening exercise is based on the song Súbeme La Radio by Enrique Iglesias. It can help you practise El Imperative and El Presente. - At Carlos Baute's concert
María Fernanda went to a Carlos Baute's concert, a famous Venezuelan singer. - Buena Vista Social Club: a Cuban band
Learn about the Buena Vista Social Club, a famous Cuban band. - Classical music in Mexico
Learn about classical music in Mexico. - Dyango and his song nostalgia
Learn about Dyango and his renamed song "Nostalgia". - Extremoduro: a Spanish rock band
Marisa loves Extremoduro and is looking forward to their next concert. - Love, the Magician
Tomorrow, Carlos's dance company will premiere "Love, the Magician". - Madrid Royal Theather
Amancio is excited about spending a day at the opera. - New Year's Concert
Domingo tells us about the annual appointment he has with his grandfather every New Year's morning. - New Year's Eve music in Mexico
On New Year's Eve in Mexico, the streets buzz with traditional music. - Pasodoble
Carmen tells us about one of the most popular dances in Spain. - Pasodoble
Learn about this famous Spanish dance. - Primavera Sound
Ismael is excited because he got tickets for the Barcelona Primavera Sound Festival. - Sardanas in Catalonia
Marcos enjoyed watching the sardanas when he visited Catalonia. - Singing Christmas carols
As Christmas day is nearly here we will be listening to lovely Christmas carols. - Spanish folklore notes
Learn about some traditional Spanish folklore. - Spanish guitar
Learn about the Spanish guitar. - Tango
Eugenia's favourite dance is the tango. - The best concert ever!
Practice El Indefinido and El Imperfecto past tenses. - The Chanelazo
Did you know that the Spanish-Cuban singer Chanel came third in the 2022 Eurovision Song Contest? - The harpist
Dalia can't wait to attend a Latin American harp music concert in her city next Saturday. - The piano workshop
Emiliano is set to inherit his grandfather's piano business, but is he ready for the responsibility that comes with it? - When Spain came second in the Eurovision Song Contest
Marta talks about the Spanish song which almost won the Eurovision Song Contest in 1973. - Campana sobre campana
The Christmas bells are ringing with this B1 reading and listening exercise that can help you practise the position of pronouns, diminutives and written accents. - Canción bonita
Listen to this duet by Ricky Martín and Carlos Vives which is a celebration of Puerto Rico. This B1 exercise can help you practise si followed by present indicative + main clause and position of Spanish direct and indirect object pronouns with infinitive/gerund and affirmative commands. - El Jazzaldia de San Sebastián
Jazzaldia, aka the San Sebastian Jazz Festival, is Spain's oldest jazz festival. Every year during the third week of July, the city is alive with the sounds of jazz music as the festival takes over the city's venues, plazas and even the beach! This exercise can help you practise superlatives, forming la pasiva refleja and past participles as adjectives. - Guantanamera
Guantanamera is probably the most famous Cuban song in the world. Its name means "woman from Guantánamo". The version in this video was recorded by Playing for Change, an organisation created to inspire and connect the world through music. - LA, LA, LA – Massiel, 1968. Festival de Eurovisión
Spain's first win at the Eurovision Song Contest was with this song by Massiel in 1968, when the contest took place in London. This exercise can help you practise using indirect object pronouns and relative pronouns. - Mi gran noche
Listen to the song "Mi gran noche" made famous when it appeared in the 1968 film "Digan lo que digan" starring the Spanish singer and actor Raphael. This B1 exercise can help you practise "El Futuro Simple". - Noviembre sin ti
Listen to this love song by Mexican band Reik taken from their eponymous 2015 album. This exercise can help you practise the position of pronouns with conjugated verbs and past participles as adjectives. - Paco de Lucía
Learn about Paco de Lucía, pioneering guitarist who founded the new fusion flamenco genre. This B1 exercise can help you practise gender of nouns ending in -ista, shorter forms of ordinal numbers and using demasiado, bastante, suficiente, poco, tanto and mucho to express quantity. - Sevillanas de Nochebuena
Listen to this Sevillana-style song that incorporates the lyrics to a couple of more traditional Spanish Christmas carols. - Song "La vida es un carnaval" by Lucrecia
This reading and listening exercise is based on the lyrics of the Spanish song La vida es un carnaval sung by Lucrecia. - A magic piano
Learn about Pablo Alborán and his excellent piano skills. - A saeta
Jaime tells us about his experience in Seville during Easter celebrations. - Dancing an aurresku
Learn about the aurresku, a famous dance from the Basque Country. - Good vibe songs
Eduardo tells us about his good vibe playlist. - I met Ricky Martin!
Juliana describes a music concert. - Kraus & Carreras
Gabriel tells us about two of the greatest Spanish opera singers. - Maldita Nerea
Fidel tells us about Maldita Nerea, his favourite band. - Montserrat Caballé
Luisa tells us about her dream to become an opera singer like Montserrat Caballé. - Music & Speed
Victor explains the effect that music has on his training. - Pablo Casals
Paco is reading the memoirs of a famous cellist, composer and conductor. - The Trinidad House of Music
Monica tells us about one of the most emblematic and cheerful places in Cuba. - The winning dress
Rafa talks about the stunning dress designed by Manuel Pertegaz, which was worn by the Spanish winner of the 1969 Eurovision contest. - Where is my tambourine?
Monica is doing her best to find her misplaced tambourine before Christmas. - Alaska y Dinarama - Mi novio es un zombi
The song "Mi novio es un zombi" was released in 1989 by new wave band Alaska y Dinarama. This B2 exercise can help you practise the Spanish Preterite, using hacer with the subjunctive/infinitive = to make [someone] do something and prepositions followed by infinitives. - Ay mamá - Rigoberta Bandini
This reading and listening exercise can help you practise no sé vs no lo sé = I don't know, using the neuter article "lo" to refer to a clause, verb, adjective or adverb and using the infinitive after prepositions (not present participle). - Canción "Como yo" de Tonina Saputo
Listen to this poetic and rather melancholy song to practise cuando followed by the subjunctive and como vs cómo (with and without written accent). - Canción de primavera
This B2 exercise about Spanish poet and singer-songwriter, Joaquín Sabina, can help you practise El Imperfecto vs El indefinido. - Carlos Vives - Cumbiana
Listen to this song by Carlos Vives where he celebrates the cumbia musical genre as well as promoting the biodiversity of the swamps and rivers of Colombia. This exercise can help you practise El Futuro Simple, using ya, and the difference between decir and contar. - Despacito
Despacito by Luis Fonsi featuring Daddy Yankee was one of the hot hits of 2017 and the first Youtube video to get more than 4 billion views! Both artists are from Puerto Rico. - El sueño de Juan cargado de música
Live the dream of becoming a famous musician with Juan! This exercise can help you practise the imperfect vs the preterite, expressions with the verbs cargar, hacer and tirar. - Jorge Drexler - Hermana duda
Meet Academy Award winner Jorge Drexler, Uruguayan musician, actor and doctor. This B2 exercise can help you practise relative clauses using the infinitive and seguir + present participle. - La Familia Addams
There's a lot of spooky excitement in Madrid right now because of the new Addams Family musical! Practise your Spanish with this video filmed after the premiere. - Maradona - Song by Andrés Calamaro
This tribute to Maradona can help you practise. using cualquier/cualquiera, el Presente de Subjuntivo and using the infinitive after prepositions. - Mediterráneo - Los Rebeldes
This song, Mediterráneo, appeared on the best-selling album of Spanish rockabilly band Los Rebeldes and was the 1988 hit song of the summer. - Resistiré
During the 2020 pandemic lockdown people started playing this song by the Dúo Dinámico from their balconies so much that it has become an literal song of resistance - Rosalía cantante revelación
Learn about the young Spanish singer called Rosalía Vila Tobella whose modern take on flamenco music led her to fame. - A rock 'n' roll grandmother
Sandra tells us about her unconventional grandmother, Carmen. - La movida madrileña
Jacinto tries to describe this underground cultural phenomenon. - Lola Flores
Paco tells us about a Spanish icon and flamenco artist whose legacy is alive and going viral on social media, although she left us 25 years ago her. - Tango
Learn about the tango. - The guitar
Find out why Cecilia will take a Spanish guitar with her to a desert island. - Celebrando la música
We'd like to highlight how important music is in everyone's lives, both in big celebrations and also in little moments in our daily life. This reading and listening exercise can help you practise the subjunctive in different scenarios like "como si", "ya sea" and "cuando" among others. - México lindo y querido
Alejandro Fernández is a Mexican singer and a best-selling Latin music artist; study one of his songs and practise "que + El Presente de Subjuntivo" to express a wish/command. - Noche en vela by Guaraná
Guaraná are a Spanish pop group, originally formed in Alicante in 2000, who went from busking in the Madrid metro to chart success. This exercise can help you practise using haber de + infinitive, using por si/por si acaso to say "in case" and there's and example of colloquial omission of the letter D. - Pajarillo
The traditional Venezuelan song "Pajarillo" is a "joropo", a typically Venezuelan style of music and dance. This exercise can help you practise particularly poetic uses of El Imperfecto Subjuntivo. - Rosalía, song by Juan Luis Guerra
Juan Luis Guerra is a best-selling singer-songwriter from the Dominican Republic. This C1 exercise can help you practise using El Imperfecto vs El indefinido, subordinate clauses with para que, uses of mira/oye and the position of pronouns. - Tacones rojos - Sebastián Yatra
Sebastián Yatra is a Colombian singer-songwriter originally known for his ballads but with a breakout success in fusion reggaeton. This C1 exercise can help you practise relative pronouns, se aspectual, use of the apostrophe and omission of the final -s in plural words. - ¿Quién es Alejandro Sanz? (A1)
Write the correct form of each verb in El Presente.
- La canción del verano (B2)
Choose the right option to fill in the gap.
- J Balvin, el príncipe del reguetón (A2)
Fill in the gaps with the right form of the Spanish preterite (El Pretérito Indefinido)
- Un poquito de historia de Eurovisión (C1)
Practise different forms of the Spanish Voz pasiva with this gapfill containing interesting facts about the Eurovision Song Contest.
- Los mariachis (A2)
Practise both direct object pronouns and indirect object pronouns with this gapfill exercise about these Mexican musicians. Choose one of the options given in the hint!
- El Carnaval de Cádiz (A2)
- En clase de flamenco (C1)
- Bailando bachata (A2)
- Una familia de músicos (A2)
Fill in the gaps with the right word from this list of Musical instruments vocabulary in Spanish. Pay attention to the hints!
