To play music

Question

Hello, I was wondering what is the verb for to play music on the stereo.

IE: I'm playing music for my friends.

Is it tocar? Or does that make it seem like I'm playing an instrument?

Answer 1

We would normally say: "Puse música para mis amigos."

Well that was easy enough, thanks! - Anna, Sep 7, 2011

Answer 2

Yes, tocar is for playing a musical instrument, actually touching it. Tocar means "to touch".

Answer 3

"Puse música para mis amigos" is definitely correct and people say it, but it is also a bit of literal translation, because it sounds somewhat detached. I believe that most people would say "Les puse música a mis amigos" much more often.

In other cases, where the connection between the recipient is to be expected, the alternative construction with "para" can sound very weird, e.g. "Puse comida para mis hijos" (!!!) instead of the preferred "Les puse comida a mis hijos"

Ok makes sense. Just curious, how does poner translate in the sentence with food? - Anna, Sep 7, 2011