A Musical Is a Play Where People Sing Instead of Explaining
Musical means related to music, and a musical is a play with songs. The form has its own conventions, and one of them is about when characters sing.
Musical is an adjective for anything to do with music, and a noun for a play or film in which songs carry the story. The convention that defines the form is simple: characters sing when speech is not enough. In a well-built musical the song starts where the argument runs out of words.
- Relating to music. *A musical instrument.*
- Good at or fond of music. *A musical family.*
- A play or film with songs. *A West End musical.*
- Musical chairs — the party game, and any repeated reshuffle. *Musical chairs in the cabinet.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Adjective | musical | A musical ear. |
| Noun | musical | A new musical. |
| Adverb | musically | Musically ambitious. |
| Noun | musician | A session musician. |
| Noun | musicality | Her musicality. |
How it is used in a sentence
- The musical ran for eleven years.The noun.
- He comes from a musical family.Meaning they play and sing.
- The department is playing musical chairs again.Repeated reshuffling of the same people.
Parts of a musical
- Book — the spoken script
- Score — the music
- Lyrics — the words of the songs
- I want song — an early number stating the main character's desire
- Eleven o'clock number — the big late song, named for when it once fell
From *music*, from Greek *mousike*, the art of the Muses, plus *-al*. The noun sense, short for *musical comedy*, dates from the early twentieth century.
Musical or opera?
Opera is sung throughout and generally uses trained classical voices. A musical mixes speech and song, though the line has blurred in both directions.
What is an eleven o'clock number?
A show-stopping song late in the second act, named from an era when Broadway curtains rose at half past eight.