Instrumental

Music without vocals

For other uses, see Instrumental (disambiguation).

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An instrumental or instrumental song is music without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through semantic widening, a broader sense of the word song may refer to instrumentals.[1][2][3] The music is primarily or exclusively produced using musical instruments. An instrumental can exist in music notation, after it is written by a composer; in the mind of the composer (especially in cases where the composer themselves will perform the piece, as in the case of a blues solo guitarist or a folk music fiddle player); as a piece that is performed live by a single instrumentalist or a musical ensemble, which could range in components from a duo or trio to a large big band, concert band or orchestra.

In a song that is otherwise sung, a section that is not sung but which is played by instruments can be called an instrumental interlude, or, if it occurs at the beginning of the song, before the singer starts to sing, an instrumental introduction. If the instrumental section highlights the skill, musicality, and often the virtuosity of a particular performer (or group of performers), the section may be called a "solo" (e.g., the guitar solo that is a key section of heavy metal music and hard rock songs). If the instruments are percussion instruments, the interlude can be called a percussion interlude or "percussion break". These interludes are a form of break in the song.

## In popular music

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Example from Free Music Archive, Steve Combs & Delta Is - "Theme Q",
bass, drum, guitar, keyboard,
4 min 53 s

In commercial popular music, instrumental tracks are sometimes renderings, remixes of a corresponding release that features vocals, but they may also be compositions originally conceived without vocals. One example of a genre in which both vocal/instrumental and solely instrumental songs are produced is blues. A blues band often uses mostly songs that have lyrics that are sung, but during the band's show, they may also perform instrumental songs which only include electric guitar, harmonica, upright bass/electric bass and drum kit. Instrumental versions of songs can also be used to create remixes and mashups or used in DJ sets. If an instrumental version of a track is not released, it can be created through stem separation/vocal removal.

## Number-one instrumentals

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Title  | Artist  | Country  | Reached number-one

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"Frenesi"  | Artie Shaw | US  | 1940
"Song of the Volga Boatmen"[4] | Glenn Miller | US  | 1941
Piano Concerto in B Flat | Freddy Martin | US  | 1941
"A String of Pearls"  | Glenn Miller | US  | 1942
"Moonlight Cocktail"  | Glenn Miller | US  | 1942
"Heartaches"  | Ted Weems | US  | 1947
"Twelfth Street Rag"  | Pee Wee Hunt | US  | 1948
"Blue Tango"  | Leroy Anderson | US  | 1952
"The Song from Moulin Rouge"[5][6] | Mantovani | UK  | 1953
"Oh Mein Papa"[note 1][6][7] | Eddie Calvert | UK  | 1954
"Let's Have Another Party"[6][8] | Winifred Atwell | UK  | 1954
"Cherry Pink (and Apple Blossom White)"[6][7] | Pérez Prado | UK  | 1955
"Cherry Pink (and Apple Blossom White)"[9] | Pérez Prado | US  | 1955
"Cherry Pink (and Apple Blossom White)"[7] | Eddie Calvert | UK  | 1955
"Cherry Pink (and Apple Blossom White)"  | Pérez Prado | Germany  | 1955
"Autumn Leaves"  | Roger Williams | US  | 1955
"Lisbon Antigua"  | Nelson Riddle | US  | 1956
"The Poor People of Paris"  | Les Baxter | US  | 1956
"The Poor People of Paris"[6][8] | Winifred Atwell | UK  | 1956
"Moonglow and Theme from Picnic"  | Morris Stoloff | US  | 1956
"Tequila"[note 2] | The Champs | US  | 1958
"Patricia"[9] | Pérez Prado | US  | 1958
"Patricia"  | Pérez Prado | Germany  | 1958
"Hoots Mon"[note 3][6][10] | Lord Rockingham's XI | UK  | 1958
"Side Saddle"[6][11] | Russ Conway | UK  | 1959
"The Happy Organ"[12] | Dave "Baby" Cortez | US  | 1959
"Roulette"[6][11] | Russ Conway | UK  | 1959
"Sleep Walk"  | Santo & Johnny | US  | 1959
"Theme from A Summer Place"[13] | Percy Faith | US  | 1960
"Apache"[6][12][14] | The Shadows | UK  | 1960
"Wonderland by Night"[13] | Bert Kaempfert | US  | 1961
"Calcutta"[13] | Lawrence Welk | US  | 1961
"On the Rebound"[6][15] | Floyd Cramer | UK  | 1961
"Kon-Tiki"[6][16] | The Shadows | UK  | 1961
"Mexico"  | Bob Moore | Germany  | 1962
"Wonderful Land"[6][12] | The Shadows | UK  | 1962
"Nut Rocker"[6][17] | B. Bumble and the Stingers | UK  | 1962
"Stranger on the Shore"  | Acker Bilk | US/UK
[note 4] | 1962
"The Stripper"[13] | David Rose | US  | 1962
"Telstar"[6][12] | The Tornados | UK  | 1962
"Telstar"[18] | The Tornados | US  | 1962
"Dance On!"[6][19] | The Shadows | UK  | 1963
"Diamonds"[6][14][20] | Jet Harris and Tony Meehan | UK  | 1963
"Telstar"  | The Tornados | France  | 1963
"Foot Tapper"[6][19] | The Shadows | UK  | 1963
"Il Silenzio"  | Nini Rosso | Germany  | 1965
"A Taste of Honey"[18] | Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass | US  | 1965
"Love is Blue"[21] | Paul Mauriat | US  | 1968
"The Good, the Bad and the Ugly"[21] | Hugo Montenegro | US  | 1968
"Grazing in the Grass"[21] | Hugh Masekela | US  | 1968
"The Good, the Bad and the Ugly"[6][22] | Hugo Montenegro, his Orchestra and Chorus  | UK  | 1968
"Albatross"[6][12] | Fleetwood Mac | UK  | 1969
"Love Theme from Romeo and Juliet"[21] | Henry Mancini | US  | 1969
"Amazing Grace"[6][12] | Royal Scots Dragoon Guards | UK  | 1972
"Popcorn"  | Hot Butter | France  | 1972
"Mouldy Old Dough"[note 5][12] | Lieutenant Pigeon | UK  | 1972
"Frankenstein"[21] | The Edgar Winter Group | US  | 1973
"Eye Level"[6][12] | Simon Park Orchestra | UK  | 1973
"Love's Theme"[23] | The Love Unlimited Orchestra | US  | 1974
"TSOP (The Sound of Philadelphia)"[note 6] | MFSB featuring The Three Degrees | US  | 1974
"Pick Up the Pieces"[note 7][23] | Average White Band | US  | 1975
"The Hustle"[note 8][23] | Van McCoy and the Soul City Symphony  | US  | 1975
"Fly, Robin, Fly"[note 9] | Silver Convention | US  | 1975
"Theme from S.W.A.T."[23] | Rhythm Heritage | US  | 1976
"A Fifth of Beethoven"[23] | Walter Murphy | US  | 1976
"Gonna Fly Now"[note 10] | Bill Conti | US  | 1977
"Star Wars Theme/Cantina Band"[note 4] | Meco | US  | 1977
"Rise"[23] | Herb Alpert | US  | 1979
"One Step Beyond"[note 11] | Madness | France  | 1980
"Chariots of Fire"[23] | Vangelis | US  | 1982
"Miami Vice Theme"[23] | Jan Hammer | US  | 1985
"Song of Ocarina"  | Jean-Philippe Audin and Diego Modena | France  | 1992
"Doop"[note 12][6][24] | Doop | UK  | 1994
"Guaglione"  | Perez Prado | Republic of Ireland | 1994
"The X-Files"  | Mark Snow | France  | 1996
"Flat Beat"[note 13][6][25] | Mr. Oizo | UK  | 1999
"Bromance"[note 14] | Tim Berg (Avicii)  | Belgium (Flanders)  | 2010
"Harlem Shake"[note 15] | Baauer | Australia/New Zealand  | 2013
"Harlem Shake"  | Baauer | US  | 2013
"Animals"[note 16] | Martin Garrix | Belgium (Flanders)  | 2013
"Animals"  | Martin Garrix | Belgium (Wallonia)  | 2013
"Animals"  | Martin Garrix | Scotland/UK  | 2013

## Borderline cases

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Some recordings which include brief or non-musical use of the human voice are typically considered instrumentals. Examples include songs with the following:

* Short verbal interjections (as in "Tequila", "Topsy", "Wipe Out", "The Hustle", or "Bentley's Gonna Sort You Out")
* Repetitive nonsense words (e.g., "la la..." (as in "Calcutta") or "Woo Hoo")
* Non-musical spoken passages in the background of the track (e.g., "To Live Is to Die" by Metallica or "Wasteland" by Chelsea Grin)
* Wordless vocal effects, such as drones (e.g., "Rockit" or "Flying")
* Vocal percussion, such as beatbox B-sides on rap singles
* Yelling (e.g. "Cry for a Shadow")
* Yodeling (e.g., "Hocus Pocus")
* Whistling (e.g., "I Was Kaiser Bill's Batman" or "Colonel Bogey March")
* Spoken statements at the end of the track (e.g., "God Bless the Children of the Beast" by Mötley Crüe or "For the Love of God" by Steve Vai)
* Non-musical vocal recordings taken from other media (e.g., "Vampires" by Godsmack)
* Field recordings which may or may not contain non-lyrical words (e.g., many songs by Godspeed You! Black Emperor and other post-rock bands)

Songs including actual musical—rhythmic, melodic, and lyrical—vocals might still be categorized as instrumentals if the vocals appear only as a short part of an extended piece (e.g., "Unchained Melody" (Les Baxter), "Batman Theme", "TSOP (The Sound of Philadelphia)", "Pick Up the Pieces", "The Hustle", "Fly, Robin, Fly", "Get Up and Boogie", "Do It Any Way You Wanna", and "Gonna Fly Now"), though this definition is loose and subjective.

Falling just outside of that definition is "Theme from Shaft" by Isaac Hayes.

"Better Off Alone", which began as an instrumental by DJ Jurgen, had vocals by Judith Pronk, who would become a seminal part of Alice Deejay, added in later releases of the track.

## See also

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* A cappella, vocal music or singing without instrumental accompaniment
* Backing track, a pre-recorded music that singers sing along to or a karaoke without vocals
* Beautiful music
* Easy listening
* Instrumental hip hop
* Instrumental rock
* Medley
* List of rock instrumentals
* Post-rock
* Smooth jazz

## Notes

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1. ^ Contains several vocal interjections of the title.
2. ^ Features vocal interjections of the title at the end of each chorus.
3. ^ Contains several Scottish-sounding grunts at the end of each chorus and immediately beforehand.
4. ^ a b Stranger on the Shore hit #1 on the end of year UK charts, but NOT the weekly UK charts. Despite this, it is the highest selling instrumental single worldwide and in the UK; in the US, this honor falls to Meco's Star Wars Theme/Cantina Band.
5. ^ Contains vocal interjections before, during, and immediately after the choruses.
6. ^ Contains vocals at the beginning and during the fade-out.
7. ^ Contains vocal interjections at the end of the second and third verses.
8. ^ Contains vocal interjections of "do the hustle!" at the end of each chorus.
9. ^ Contains vocal interjections of the title at the end of each chorus and "up, up to the sky" as an ending.
10. ^ Contains vocals, which total thirty words and thus contains the most lyrics of any song classified as an instrumental which has hit number 1.
11. ^ Includes spoken introduction, and vocal interjections of the song title and "Here we go" at several points during the song.
12. ^ Contains, during its choruses, several nonsensical vocal interjections of the title.
13. ^ At the beginning, before the main piece begins, it features the lyrics "Oh yeah, I used to know Quentin, he's a real, he's a real jerk".
14. ^ Bromance was an instrumental before being re-released as "Seek Bromance" with vocals by Amanda Wilson from the song "Love U Seek" by Italian DJ Samuele Sartini.
15. ^ Contains samples of the lines "Con los terroristas" from a remix of the 2006 reggaeton single "Maldades" by Héctor Delgado and "Do the Harlem shake" from "Miller Time" by Plastic Little.
16. ^ "We're the fucking animals" is said twice.

## References

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1. ^ Ozzi, Dan (11 April 2018). "RLYR's 'Actual Existence' Is 40 Minutes of Beautiful Chaos". Noisey. Vice. Retrieved 26 January 2019.
2. ^ Bernardinelli, Federico (19 August 2018). "Rocking on Banker's Hill, an Interview with El Ten Eleven". Arctic Drones. Archived from the original on 26 January 2019. Retrieved 26 January 2019.
3. ^ Fischer, Tobias. "Interview with Jasper TX | Sweden Experimental interviews". tokafi.com. Retrieved 26 January 2019.
4. ^ "Number Ones - Mar 1941". tsort.info. Retrieved 14 December 2022.
5. ^ Huey, Steve. "Mantovani: Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved 14 May 2010.
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w "Instrumental #1s". ukcharts.20m.com.
7. ^ a b c Mawer, Sharon. "Eddie Calvert: Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved 14 May 2010.
8. ^ a b Mawer, Sharon. "Winifred Atwell: Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved 14 May 2010.
9. ^ a b Huey, Steve. "Pérez Prado: Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved 14 May 2010.
10. ^ Mawer, Sharon. "Lord Rockingham's XI: Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved 14 May 2010.
11. ^ a b "Pianist Russ Conway dies". BBC News. 16 November 2000. Retrieved 13 May 2010.
12. ^ a b c d e f g h McNair, James (10 December 2009). "Whatever Happened To The Hit Instrumental?". Mojo. Archived from the original on 20 December 2009. Retrieved 19 December 2009.
13. ^ a b c d "All Instrumental Top 20 Songs, every top 20 instrumental, Dec 1959 - Jun 1962". Tunecaster.
14. ^ a b "The Shadows founder member dies". BBC News. 29 November 2005.
15. ^ "Country Music Hall of Fame To Welcome Floyd Cramer and Carl Smith". Broadcast Music Incorporated. 13 August 2003. Retrieved 13 May 2010.
16. ^ Boynton, Graham (25 September 2009). "Hank Marvin: 'We should have taken Harrison's advice and sung'". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 12 January 2022. Retrieved 13 May 2010.
17. ^ Perrone, Pierre (23 September 2008). "Obituary: Earl Palmer". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 14 May 2010.
18. ^ a b "All Instrumental Top 20 Songs, every top 20 instrumental, Sep 1962 - Oct 1966". Tunecaster.
19. ^ a b "Rhythm magazine". Rhythm. March 2001. Archived from the original on 26 February 2012.
20. ^ Unterberger, Richie. "Jet Harris – Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved 19 December 2009.
21. ^ a b c d e "All Instrumental Top 20 Songs, every top 20 instrumental, Oct 1966 - Jun 1973". Tunecaster.
22. ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Hugo Montenegro: Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved 14 May 2010.
23. ^ a b c d e f g h "All Instrumental Top 20 Songs, every top 20 instrumental, Nov 1973 - now". Tunecaster.
24. ^ "All the No.1s: Doop - Doop". Official Charts Company. Archived from the original on 5 January 2010. Retrieved 19 December 2009.
25. ^ Siegler, Dylan (April 2000). "Mr. Oizo". CMJ New Music Monthly (80). College Media Inc.: 39. ISSN 1074-6978.

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