Meaning & use
gig in music
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Meanings
nouncountableinformal
A live performance by a musician or band, especially of popular music, usually at a small or mid-sized venue.
Grammar: Countable, so you can say a gig, two gigs, or the band's first gig.
Patterns
- play a gig
- do a gig
- go to a gig
- a gig at a venue
The band played a gig at a small club in Brooklyn on Friday.
We got tickets for their gig at the university hall next month.
She has three gigs this weekend, so she will be busy.
nouncountableinformal
A single paid piece of work, especially one that lasts a short time or is arranged for a fixed period.
Grammar: Countable; often used for freelance or temporary work, as in a gig economy.
Patterns
- take a gig
- a gig as something
- a gig with a company
He picked up a three-month gig as a sound engineer for a touring show.
Many drivers treat the app as a series of short gigs rather than a career.
verbintransitiveinformal
To perform live music at a concert or similar event.
Grammar: No object; you gig somewhere or gig with a band, not gig a song.
Patterns
- gig with someone
- gig at a place
- gig regularly
They gig around the Midwest most weekends.
She gigged with a jazz trio before joining the orchestra.
Word forms
| plural | gigs |
|---|---|
| third person singular | gigs |
| past tense | gigged |
| past participle | gigged |
| -ing form | gigging |
Common combinations
- play a gig
- The trio played a gig in a packed basement bar.
- a gig venue
- The old factory is now a popular gig venue.
- a support gig
- They got a support gig opening for a bigger band.
- a gig economy
- Short-term contracts are typical of the gig economy.
- land a gig
- After the audition, he landed a gig with a touring group.
Synonyms and how they differ
- concert
- More neutral and broader; use 'concert' for classical music and large formal events, where 'gig' would sound too casual.
- show
- Focuses on the whole event the audience watches, and works for theater and comedy too, not only music.
- performance
- The most general word and the safest in formal writing, but it says nothing about the type or size of the event.
Word family
- gigging noun
- The activity of playing live shows, as in 'He does a lot of gigging.'
- gigger noun
- Informal word for a musician who plays many live shows.
Commonly confused: gig in music or gigabyte? gig in music or jig?
gig in music vs gigabyte
Often shortened to 'gig' in computing, as in 'a 500-gig drive'. The context makes the meaning clear: music talk versus storage or data.
gig in music vs jig
A jig is a lively dance or tune; it sounds similar but has nothing to do with playing a show.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'gig' in the way most people mean it in music?
Choose one answer.
'Gig' in music means a live performance, so playing at a club fits. Option 1 uses the computing short form for gigabyte, and the other two are not standard uses of this word.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “gig in music”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.