Music has fascinated and inspired humanity since history seemingly began. As French poet and novelist Victor Hugo said,

“Music expresses that which cannot be put into words and that which cannot remain silent.”

Many people can create a soundtrack for their lives with key songs that resonate with them at different moments. This might be why music tattoos are a popular body art theme.

Whether there is a specific song you’d like to pay tribute to through a tattoo of lyrics, a microphone to symbolize your career in music, or a minimalistic tattoo of music notes, there are many tattoo ideas that you can take inspiration from.

Song Lyric Tattoo

Is there a song that you never get tired of? When you hear it, memories filter through your mind of an amazing moment in your life.

A lyric tattoo can be a way to permanently immortalise this time in your life on your skin.

There are so many fonts to choose from when it comes to word tattoos. Tat Ring points out a few important factors to consider when choosing a font for your word tattoo.

Take some time to think about if you want words with flourishes, or something more simple; how the style of lettering will fit on the tattoo placement you’ve chosen; and if you want any additional designs with the words.

To play around with different fonts and to see how they look with your chosen lyrics, you can use the website Tattoo Font Generator.

Even though a word tattoo may look simple, it’s not.

“Although writing and text is one of the first skills a tattoo artist is taught, it is also one of the most technically intense. For a quote to look awesome, it needs to be consistent in size and style and appear straight on a curvy canvas – your body. Practice and talent are required to pull it off,”

Tat Ring

Choose an experienced tattoo artist who is well practised in word tattoos.

While doing your research and playing around with different scripts, check the spelling and grammar of your chosen lyrics. You can’t press backspace on your skin.

God Of Music Tattoo

As music has been played by humans for centuries, ancient civilizations personified rhythm and songs into gods and goddesses.

In ancient Egypt, Ihy was the god of music and joy, and was often worshipped at festivals. In Greek mythology, Apollo was the god who presided over music, dance, and poetry. In this role, Apollo was also known as the Leader of the Muses.

“The Muses were the Greek goddesses of poetic inspiration, the adored deities of song, dance, and memory, on whose mercy the creativity, wisdom and insight of all artists and thinkers depended,”

Greek Mythology

A muse can be seen as a personified concept of inspiration – being visited by a muse means that your creativity has been stimulated.

Sound Wave Tattoo

Sound can be pictured through a sound wave. When an object vibrates, such as a musical instrument, it causes a vibration which can be represented as a sound wave.

A sound wave tattoo isn’t just a tattoo that you can see, it’s also a design that you can hear.

Skin Motion developed a technology which lets you hear your sound wave tattoo. You take a recording of what you want, they’ll transfer this into a sound wave design stencil for your tattoo, you get inked, and afterwards you can use their app to scan the design and hear your recording.

Treble Clef Tattoo

The treble clef symbol is the most used clef in Western music. On the piano grand staff, this symbol is used to notate music played by the right hand. It also indicates the pitch of the notes written on the staff.

It’s one of the most well known musical symbols, and as such has become a popular tattoo choice in the musical theme.

This simple, curving design works well as a mini tattoo behind the ear or placed on a finger. Or, a tattooee could incorporate other elements in the tattoo design, such as flowers or a heart.

Musical Note Tattoo

If you’re looking for a super subtle tattoo design that represents music, why not musical notes?

A written musical symbol represents a note that a musician can play when reading music. These tiny notes work well as a simple finger tattoo as they don’t take up much space.

If you’d like more than one or two musical notes as a tattoo, a scattered music note tattoo could be for you. This design features inked notes flowing in a direction.

“This is one of the most flexible tattoos you will come across and perfectly symbolizes your love for music. It also helps showcase that you live life with the flow of music and that it’s the only thing that may help you get through tough times,”

Wild Tattoo Art

Gramophone Tattoo

In the 1880s, Emile Berliner invented the gramophone and the disks that could be played on it.

This invention ushered in a new age of music. Because of this, a gramophone tattoo could be the tattoo choice for you if you’re looking for a design that represents how music was transferred into machines.

This great-great-great-great grandfather of the iPod was made up of the turntable, disk, spindle, stylis, and horn. The horn – the most telltale sign of a gramophone – can include flowers or musical notes coming out of it in a tattoo design.

Microphone Tattoo

While microphone technology has come a long way, old school microphones are definitely a popular choice when it comes to this tattoo.

A microphone tattoo can be part of a larger sleeve design with many other musical elements. However, going small doesn’t necessarily mean you have to go minimalist. You can still have a highly detailed design as a micro tattoo.

When thinking about what tattoo you should get, it’s a great idea to go through what holds meaning for you. A song, a sound, and music in general can be amazing inspiration for a tattoo you’ll love.

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