Play Musical Instruments in Japanese – Part 2: 演奏する
One Verb for All Musical Instruments?
Discover a useful Japanese word: 演奏する
Last time, we learned three different Japanese verbs for playing musical instruments.
But did you know that there’s another verb you can use for all three?
🎵 First, Let’s Review!
In Japanese, we often choose a different verb depending on how we play an instrument.
These verbs are useful because they tell us how someone plays an instrument.
But what if we just want to say that someone is playing music?
✨ Meet a Useful Verb!
演奏する is a useful verb for talking about playing musical instruments.
You don’t need to choose a different verb for each instrument.
All three sentences are correct!
In many JLPT N3 vocabulary resources, 演奏する is introduced as an intermediate-level word.
JLPT levels for individual vocabulary items are approximate, since the official JLPT does not publish fixed vocabulary lists.
🤔 Then Why Learn Three Verbs?
If we can use 演奏する , do we still need ひく, ふく, and たたく?
Yes! They have slightly different focuses.
🎹 ひく・ふく・たたく
Focus on the action or technique used to play an instrument.
Common in everyday conversation.
🎼 演奏する
Focus on playing or performing music more generally.
Often used when discussing performances, concerts, or music.
For example:
Both are natural Japanese expressions. The best choice depends on what you want to emphasize.
🌱 One Word, More Vocabulary!
Let’s take a closer look at the kanji in 演奏 .
These two characters also appear in other interesting Japanese words.
Meaning: to act / to play a role
A related form is 演ずる（えんずる）, which sounds more formal or literary.
Meaning: to play music or produce musical sounds
Often used in expressive, poetic, or descriptive language.
演奏する、 演じる、 and 奏でる are related through their kanji, but they are not interchangeable.
Learning the connections between kanji can help you remember new vocabulary more naturally!
Ready to Practice?
Want to review the original three Japanese verbs?
Try our interactive musical instrument quiz!
Try the Musical Instrument Quiz →Learn Japanese through examples, visuals, and interactive practice.
