Tónlistin heyrist vel héðan.

Tónlistin means the music.

The base noun is tónlist = music.
The ending -in is the definite article attached to the noun, so Icelandic often says:

• tónlist = music
• tónlistin = the music

This is very normal in Icelandic. Unlike English, the is often added as a suffix rather than written as a separate word.

That is one of the basic patterns of Icelandic grammar. The definite article is usually a suffix on the noun.

For example:

• bíll = car
• bíllinn = the car

So tónlistin is completely normal Icelandic for the music.

A separate article can appear in some more formal or special constructions, especially with adjectives, but for a simple noun by itself, the suffixed article is the usual choice.

Heyrist comes from the verb að heyra, which means to hear.

Here, heyrist means something like:

• is heard
• can be heard
• is audible

So Tónlistin heyrist means the music is heard or more naturally in English, the music can be heard.

The ending -st is a very important Icelandic pattern. It often marks what is called the middle voice, and in many sentences it has a meaning that feels a bit like passive or happens by itself.

Compare:

• Ég heyri tónlistina. = I hear the music.
• Tónlistin heyrist. = The music is heard / can be heard.

So in this sentence, heyrist does not mean that the music is hearing itself. It means that the music is audible.

It is very close in meaning to a passive in this sentence, but grammatically Icelandic usually treats -st forms as middle-voice forms rather than ordinary passives.

For a learner, the most useful thing is this:

• heyrir = hears
• heyrist = is heard / can be heard

So yes, translating it as a passive is often the easiest way to understand it, even if the grammar label is a bit more specific.

Because Icelandic often expresses this idea without a separate modal verb.

Tónlistin heyrist vel héðan does not literally contain a word meaning can, but the natural English meaning is often:

• The music can be heard well from here.

That is because heyrist here suggests that the music is audible from this location. English usually prefers can be heard to sound natural.

Vel means well.

In this sentence, it tells you how the music is heard:

• Tónlistin heyrist vel = The music can be heard well

Depending on context, vel here could also feel like:

• clearly
• easily

So the idea is not that the music is good music, but that it is easy to hear.

Not usually.

This sentence is about audibility, not about quality.

• Tónlistin heyrist vel. = The music can be heard well.
• Tónlistin hljómar vel. = The music sounds good.

That is an important difference.
heyrist vel = it reaches your ears clearly
hljómar vel = it has a good sound

Because héðan means from here, while hér means here.

Icelandic often makes a three-way distinction in place adverbs:

• hér = here
• hingað = to here
• héðan = from here

So:

• Tónlistin heyrist vel héðan. = The music can be heard well from here.

If you said hér instead, the meaning would shift more toward here rather than from here.

Yes, but it would mean something slightly different.

• héðan = from here
• hér = here

So:

• Tónlistin heyrist vel héðan. = The music can be heard well from this place
• Tónlistin heyrist vel hér. = The music can be heard well here

The difference is small in some situations, but héðan focuses more clearly on the listener’s position as the point from which the music is audible.

Because tónlistin is the subject of the sentence, so it is in the nominative case.

Compare:

• Tónlistin heyrist vel héðan. = The music can be heard well from here.
  Here, tónlistin is the subject.

But in an active sentence:

• Ég heyri tónlistina. = I hear the music.
  Here, tónlistina is the object, so it is in the accusative.

This is a very common Icelandic pattern: the noun changes form depending on its grammatical role.

The sentence has a very normal Icelandic main-clause order:

• Tónlistin = subject
• heyrist = finite verb
• vel = adverb
• héðan = adverb of place/source

So the structure is basically:

Subject + Verb + Adverb + Adverb

This is a neutral, natural order.

Yes. Icelandic allows different word orders for emphasis, but the finite verb in a main clause still typically stays in second position.

For example:

• Tónlistin heyrist vel héðan. = neutral
• Héðan heyrist tónlistin vel. = more emphasis on from here

That second version is also natural. It puts focus on the location.

The dictionary form is að heyra = to hear.

Some useful forms are:

• heyra = hear
• heyrir = hears
• heyrist = is heard / can be heard

So when you look up heyrist, you should look under heyra.

Yes, it is completely natural.

It is a normal way to say that music is audible from a certain place. A native speaker would understand it immediately as meaning that from this spot, you can hear the music clearly.