LyricsGaps.com Review: Learn English Through Song Lyrics
LyricsGaps.com turns music videos into fill-in-the-gap exercises — over 15 languages, songs tagged Easy/Medium/Hard, and a free tier that needs no account. Here's what teachers actually get, what works in class, and what to pair it with.Ready to try LyricsGaps.com?
"Songs are tagged Easy, Medium, or Hard — a rare, useful filter for ESL listening practice."
Best for
ESL teachers who want a free, ready-to-use listening activity that students actually enjoy — and self-learners who learn better with music than with drills.
Pricing
Free (premium tier available)
Pro tip — heads up before you bookmark it
A note on scope
LyricsGaps is a music-based listening activity, not a full curriculum. Use it for warm-ups, cool-downs, and self-study between classes — and pair it with structured listening practice (BBC Learning English, ESL Pod) for graded progression.
What is LyricsGaps.com?
LyricsGaps.com is a free listening-practice platform that turns songs into fill-in-the-gap exercises. You watch the music video, listen to the song, and type the missing words as they appear in the lyrics.
The site covers more than 15 languages, including English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Dutch, Greek, Turkish, Russian, and others. For English specifically, songs are tagged Easy, Medium, or Hard so learners can self-select the difficulty.
Beyond the core exercise, the site offers:
- Browse by language and letter — quick navigation through the song library
- Challenges — compete against other learners on the same song
- Pending Review queue — teachers can submit new songs to the platform
- Premium tier — removes ads and unlocks extra features
It's a simple, focused tool. No flashy animations, no progress dashboards — just songs and missing words.
How teachers use it
LyricsGaps works best for these specific things:
- 5–10 minute warm-up or cool-down: project a music video, students race to fill in gaps. Instant engagement.
- Listening stamina practice: songs test real-time comprehension — students can't pause to look up words. Builds the muscle that paper exercises don't.
- Vocabulary in context: collocations, idioms, and natural spoken English land differently when wrapped in music.
- Differentiation by difficulty: give Easy songs to weaker students, Hard songs to stronger ones — same activity, same energy.
- Self-study listening at home: students who like music can practise between classes without it feeling like homework.
Is it worth your time?
Yes — for the niche of music-based listening practice, LyricsGaps is genuinely useful and genuinely free. The difficulty tagging is a small but real win: most music-lyric platforms treat every song the same, which makes them either too easy or too frustrating for new learners.
The honest caveat: the song library is smaller than LyricsTraining's, the design looks dated, and there's no structured curriculum. Treat LyricsGaps as a warm-up or reward activity, not as your main listening course.
Honest recommendation: add LyricsGaps to your listening toolkit as a quick, fun, music-based activity. Pair it with structured listening (BBC Learning English, ESL Pod) for graded practice, and with a structured resource like Teach-This or ESL Brains for the lesson-side of your planning.
The honest pros and cons
What works
- Truly free, no signup Most exercises work without an account. Easy to share with students.
- Difficulty tagging Easy / Medium / Hard labels help with differentiation.
- Wide language coverage 15+ languages — useful for multi-lingual classrooms or polyglot learners.
- Music videos built in Students watch and listen at the same time — higher engagement than audio-only.
- Real-time listening Forces active comprehension — no pausing to look up words.
- Challenge mode Light gamification keeps students coming back.
What doesn't
- Smaller song library Fewer tracks than LyricsTraining. Some genres are thin.
- Dated interface Design looks like 2010. Functional but not modern.
- No progress tracking Scores aren't saved. You track externally.
- Premium upsell Best features and ad-free experience sit behind a paywall.
- No teacher dashboard Hard to monitor a whole class without screensharing.
- Copyright gaps Lyrics disappear on some tracks. Always have a backup.
Best alternatives
If LyricsGaps.com isn't a fit, these are the resources teachers actually switch to:
LyricsTraining (LingoClip)
Bigger music library, gamified modes, and a stronger community.
TEFL Tunes
Lesson plans built around songs — ready-made for the classroom.
BBC Learning English
Graded listening with transcripts, quizzes, and short clips.
ESL Brains
Lesson plans built around TED talks and authentic videos.
Teach-This.com
3,000+ printable ESL worksheets, CEFR-aligned, updated monthly.
Frequently asked questions
What is LyricsGaps.com?
Is LyricsGaps free?
What level is LyricsGaps for?
What languages are available?
Can teachers use LyricsGaps in class?
How does it compare to LyricsTraining?
What are the best alternatives?
Ready to turn songs into listening practice?
Free, no signup, music-powered. Add LyricsGaps to your warm-ups or end-of-class cool-downs — students will forget they're studying.
Visit LyricsGaps.com