50 Idioms For Music with Meanings & Sentences
Idioms for Music
1. Dance to someone’s tune
Meaning: To act according to someone else’s wishes or commands.
In a Sentence: The employees had to dance to the boss’s tune to keep their jobs.
Other Ways to Say: Follow someone’s lead, Obey someone’s wishes.
2. Face the music
Meaning: To accept the consequences of one’s actions.
In a Sentence: After missing the deadline, he had to face the music.
Other Ways to Say: Accept punishment, Take responsibility.
3. Blow your own trumpet
Meaning: To boast about one’s achievements.
In a Sentence: She is always blowing her own trumpet about her sales record.
Other Ways to Say: Brag, Show off.
4. Change your tune
Meaning: To change one’s opinion or attitude.
In a Sentence: He changed his tune after seeing the results.
Other Ways to Say: Alter opinion, Reverse stance.
5. Call the tune
Meaning: To be in control or make decisions.
In a Sentence: The manager calls the tune in the office.
Other Ways to Say: Be in charge, Make decisions.
6. Strike a chord
Meaning: To cause someone to feel sympathy or enthusiasm.
In a Sentence: Her speech struck a chord with the audience.
Other Ways to Say: Resonate, Touch emotions.
7. Jazz something up
Meaning: To make something more exciting or lively.
In a Sentence: We need to jazz up the presentation to impress the clients.
Other Ways to Say: Enhance, Liven up.
8. Play it by ear
Meaning: To improvise or decide what to do as the situation develops.
In a Sentence: Let’s play it by ear and see how things go.
Other Ways to Say: Improvise, Take it as it comes.
9. Music to someone’s ears
Meaning: Something very pleasant to hear.
In a Sentence: The news of the bonus was music to their ears.
Other Ways to Say: Pleasing news, Good to hear.
10. March to the beat of your own drum
Meaning: To do things your own way regardless of what others do.
In a Sentence: She always marches to the beat of her own drum.
Other Ways to Say: Be independent, Follow your own path.
11. Blow the whistle
Meaning: To report wrongdoing or illegal activity.
In a Sentence: He blew the whistle on the company’s fraud.
Other Ways to Say: Report, Expose.
12. Change the record
Meaning: To say something repeatedly or to change the subject.
In a Sentence: She kept complaining; I told her to change the record.
Other Ways to Say: Repeat, Switch topic.
13. Ring a bell
Meaning: To sound familiar.
In a Sentence: That name rings a bell, but I can’t recall where I heard it.
Other Ways to Say: Sound familiar, Trigger memory.
14. Drum up support
Meaning: To try to get support or interest.
In a Sentence: The politician is trying to drum up support for his campaign.
Other Ways to Say: Garner support, Rally.
15. Off the beaten track
Meaning: Unusual or out of the ordinary.
In a Sentence: Their music style is off the beaten track.
Other Ways to Say: Unconventional, Unique.
16. Blow your own horn
Meaning: To boast about oneself.
In a Sentence: He likes to blow his own horn at every meeting.
Other Ways to Say: Brag, Show off.
17. Hit the right note
Meaning: To do something appropriately or successfully.
In a Sentence: The speaker hit the right note with the audience.
Other Ways to Say: Be effective, Succeed.
18. Play second fiddle
Meaning: To be in a subordinate position.
In a Sentence: He didn’t want to play second fiddle to his brother.
Other Ways to Say: Be subordinate, Take a back seat.
19. Fine tuning
Meaning: Making small improvements.
In a Sentence: The team is fine tuning their strategy before the launch.
Other Ways to Say: Adjust, Improve.
20. Jazz hands
Meaning: Exaggerated hand movements used in performance.
In a Sentence: The actor ended the show with a big jazz hands routine.
Other Ways to Say: Dramatic gestures, Showy movements.
21. Blow the fuse
Meaning: To lose one’s temper.
In a Sentence: He blew the fuse when he heard the bad news.
Other Ways to Say: Lose temper, Get angry.
22. Change of tune
Meaning: A change in opinion or attitude.
In a Sentence: After the feedback, she had a complete change of tune.
Other Ways to Say: New attitude, Different opinion.
23. Play it cool
Meaning: To stay calm and relaxed.
In a Sentence: Just play it cool during the interview.
Other Ways to Say: Stay calm, Be relaxed.
24. Ring true
Meaning: To seem truthful or genuine.
In a Sentence: His explanation doesn’t ring true to me.
Other Ways to Say: Seem genuine, Be believable.
25. Blow off steam
Meaning: To release pent-up emotions.
In a Sentence: She went for a run to blow off steam after the meeting.
Other Ways to Say: Relax, Vent.
26. Strike up a conversation
Meaning: To start talking with someone.
In a Sentence: He struck up a conversation with the new neighbor.
Other Ways to Say: Start talking, Initiate chat.
27. Call the shots
Meaning: To be in control or make important decisions.
In a Sentence: The CEO calls the shots in the company.
Other Ways to Say: Be in charge, Make decisions.
28. Play it safe
Meaning: To avoid risks.
In a Sentence: She decided to play it safe and took the job offer.
Other Ways to Say: Avoid risk, Be cautious.
29. Sing a different tune
Meaning: To change one’s opinion or attitude.
In a Sentence: He sang a different tune after seeing the evidence.
Other Ways to Say: Change opinion, Reverse stance.
30. Change the tune
Meaning: To change one’s attitude or opinion.
In a Sentence: The politician changed his tune after the public backlash.
Other Ways to Say: Alter opinion, Shift attitude.
Idioms for Never Going to Happen
31. Dance around the issue
Meaning: To avoid talking about something directly.
In a Sentence: Stop dancing around the issue and give me a straight answer.
Other Ways to Say: Avoid the topic, Be evasive.
32. Blow your top
Meaning: To become very angry.
In a Sentence: He blew his top when he found out about the mistake.
Other Ways to Say: Lose temper, Get furious.
33. Play it by ear
Meaning: To improvise rather than plan.
In a Sentence: We don’t have a plan; we’ll just play it by ear.
Other Ways to Say: Improvise, Take it as it comes.
34. Change the record
Meaning: To repeat the same thing over and over.
In a Sentence: She’s changed the record about how tired she is.
Other Ways to Say: Repeat, Say again.
35. Ring a bell
Meaning: To sound familiar.
In a Sentence: That name rings a bell, but I can’t recall where I heard it.
Other Ways to Say: Sound familiar, Trigger memory.
36. Blow the whistle
Meaning: To report wrongdoing.
In a Sentence: The employee blew the whistle on the corruption.
Other Ways to Say: Report, Expose.
37. Fine-tune
Meaning: To make small adjustments.
In a Sentence: The technician fine-tuned the equipment before the show.
Other Ways to Say: Adjust, Improve.
38. Jazz up
Meaning: To make something more lively or interesting.
In a Sentence: They jazzed up the party with some music and dancing.
Other Ways to Say: Liven up, Enhance.
39. March to the beat of your own drum
Meaning: To do things your own way.
In a Sentence: She always marches to the beat of her own drum.
Other Ways to Say: Be independent, Follow your own path.
40. Blow the whistle on
Meaning: To expose someone’s wrongdoing.
In a Sentence: He blew the whistle on the company’s illegal activities.
Other Ways to Say: Report, Inform.
41. Hit the right note
Meaning: To do something correctly or well.
In a Sentence: Her speech hit the right note with the audience.
Other Ways to Say: Be successful, Be appropriate.
42. Blow your own trumpet
Meaning: To boast about oneself.
In a Sentence: He loves to blow his own trumpet.
Other Ways to Say: Brag, Show off.
43. Play second fiddle
Meaning: To be in a subordinate position.
In a Sentence: She didn’t want to play second fiddle to anyone.
Other Ways to Say: Be subordinate, Take a back seat.
44. Call the tune
Meaning: To be in control.
In a Sentence: In this project, the director calls the tune.
Other Ways to Say: Be in charge, Make decisions.
45. Dance to the music
Meaning: To do what someone else wants.
In a Sentence: He had no choice but to dance to the music.
Other Ways to Say: Comply, Follow orders.
46. Strike a chord with
Meaning: To emotionally affect someone.
In a Sentence: The movie struck a chord with many viewers.
Other Ways to Say: Resonate, Touch hearts.
47. Blow your top
Meaning: To suddenly get very angry.
In a Sentence: She blew her top when she heard the news.
Other Ways to Say: Lose temper, Get furious.
48. Play it cool
Meaning: To remain calm and collected.
In a Sentence: He played it cool during the tense meeting.
Other Ways to Say: Stay calm, Be composed.
49. Ring true
Meaning: To sound genuine or truthful.
In a Sentence: Her explanation didn’t ring true to me.
Other Ways to Say: Seem real, Be believable.
50. Blow off steam
Meaning: To release anger or stress.
In a Sentence: After work, he goes to the gym to blow off steam.
Other Ways to Say: Relax, Vent emotions.
