Things to do
Musical instruments
Me gusta cantar. - I like singing.
Canto mucho. - I sing a lot.
You use a different verb for 'to play' when you're talking about music.
Jugar means 'to play' a game whilst tocar means 'to play' an instrument or music. That's why it's important not to use the first word you see in a dictionary but to look at the meaning as well.
So toco means 'I play' an instrument.
¿Qué tocas? - What do you play?
Toco el piano. - I play the piano.
Toco el clarinete. - I play the clarinet.
Toco la trompeta. - I play the trumpet.
Toco la guitarra. - I play the guitar.
Toco el saxofón. - I play the saxophone.
Toco el violín. - I play the violin.
Again, you can see that lots of instruments look very similar in Spanish and English. Be careful with your pronunciation though – remember your Spanish eyes and ears!
These instruments aren't quite as obvious but should be quite easy to remember:
Toco la batería. - I play the drums. (Think of a drummer battering his kit!)
Toco las castañuelas. - I play the castanets (The 'clacky things' used in dancing 'sevillanas' to keep rhythm).
You can also use toco to say what type of music you play.
Toco música jazz. - I play jazz music.
Toco música reggae. - I play reggae music.
Or you could use that very useful phrase me gusta.
Me gusta la música pop. - I like pop music.
Me gusta mucho la música clásica. - I like classical music a lot.
And of course, you can say you don't like music too:
No me gusta la música folclórica. - I don't like folk music.
