An instrumental is a recording normally 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[]
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.
Number-one instrumentals[]
Title | Artist | Country | Reached number-one |
---|---|---|---|
Frenesi | Artie Shaw | US | December 21, 1940 |
Song of the Volga Boatmen | Glenn Miller | US | March 19, 1941 |
Piano Concerto in B Flat | Freddy Martin | US | October 4, 1941 |
A String of Pearls | Glenn Miller | US | February 7, 1942 |
Moonlight Cocktail | Glenn Miller | US | February 28, 1942 |
Heartaches | Ted Weems | US | March 15, 1947 |
Twelfth Street Rag | Pee Wee Hunt | US | August 28, 1948 |
Blue Tango | Leroy Anderson | US | May 17, 1952 |
The Song from Moulin Rouge[4][5] | Mantovani | UK | August 14, 1953 |
Oh Mein Papa[note 1][5][6] | Eddie Calvert | UK | January 8, 1954 |
Let's Have Another Party[5][7] | Winifred Atwell | UK | December 3, 1954 |
Cherry Pink (and Apple Blossom White)[5][6] | Perez Prado | UK | April 29, 1955 |
Cherry Pink (and Apple Blossom White)[8] | Perez Prado | US | April 30, 1955 |
Cherry Pink (and Apple Blossom White)[6] | Eddie Calvert | UK | May 27, 1955 |
Cherry Pink (and Apple Blossom White) | Perez Prado | Germany | October 8, 1955 |
Autumn Leaves | Roger Williams | US | October 29, 1955 |
Lisbon Antigua | Nelson Riddle | US | February 25, 1956 |
The Poor People of Paris | Les Baxter | US | March 17, 1956 |
The Poor People of Paris[5][7] | Winifred Atwell | UK | April 13, 1956 |
Moonglow and Theme from Picnic | Morris Stoloff | US | June 2, 1956 |
Tequila[note 2] | The Champs | US | March 17, 1958 |
Patricia[8] | Perez Prado | US | July 28, 1958 |
Patricia | Perez Prado | Germany | October 18, 1958 |
Hoots Mon[note 3][5][9] | Lord Rockingham's XI | UK | November 28, 1958 |
Side Saddle[5][10] | Russ Conway | UK | March 27, 1959 |
The Happy Organ[11] | Dave "Baby" Cortez | US | May 11, 1959 |
Roulette[5][10] | Russ Conway | UK | June 19, 1959 |
Sleep Walk | Santo & Johnny | US | September 21, 1959 |
Theme from A Summer Place[12] | Percy Faith | US | February 22, 1960 |
Apache[5][11][13] | The Shadows | UK | August 25, 1960 |
Wonderland by Night[12] | Bert Kaempfert | US | January 9, 1961 |
Calcutta[12] | Lawrence Welk | US | February 13, 1961 |
On the Rebound[5][14] | Floyd Cramer | UK | May 18, 1961 |
Kon-Tiki[5][15] | The Shadows | UK | October 5, 1961 |
Mexico | Bob Moore | Germany | January 27, 1962 |
Wonderful Land[5][11] | The Shadows | UK | March 22, 1962 |
Nut Rocker[5][16] | B. Bumble and the Stingers | UK | May 17, 1962 |
Stranger on the Shore | Acker Bilk | US/UK [note 4] |
May 26, 1962 |
The Stripper[12] | David Rose | US | July 7, 1962 |
Telstar[5][11] | The Tornados | UK | October 4, 1962 |
Telstar[17] | The Tornados | US | December 22, 1962 |
Dance On![5][18] | The Shadows | UK | January 24, 1963 |
Diamonds[5][13][19][20] | Jet Harris and Tony Meehan | UK | January 31, 1963 |
Telstar | The Tornados | France | February 9, 1963 |
Foot Tapper[5][18] | The Shadows | UK | March 29, 1963 |
Il Silenzio | Nini Rosso | Germany | July 19, 1965 |
A Taste of Honey[17] | Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass | US | November 27, 1965 |
Love is Blue[21] | Paul Mauriat | US | February 10, 1968 |
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly[21] | Hugo Montenegro | US | June 8, 1968 |
Grazing in the Grass[21] | Hugh Masekela | US | July 20, 1968 |
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly[5][22] | Hugo Montenegro, his Orchestra and Chorus | UK | November 13, 1968 |
Albatross[5][11] | Fleetwood Mac | UK | January 29, 1969 |
Love Theme from Romeo and Juliet[21] | Henry Mancini | US | June 28, 1969 |
Amazing Grace[5][11] | Royal Scots Dragoon Guards | UK | April 15, 1972 |
Popcorn | Hot Butter | France | July 13, 1972 |
Mouldy Old Dough[note 5][11] | Lieutenant Pigeon | UK | October 14, 1972 |
Frankenstein[21] | The Edgar Winter Group | US | May 26, 1973 |
Eye Level[5][11] | Simon Park Orchestra | UK | September 29, 1973 |
Love's Theme[23] | Love Unlimited Orchestra | US | February 9, 1974 |
TSOP (The Sound of Philadelphia)[note 6] | MFSB featuring The Three Degrees | US | April 20, 1974 |
Pick Up the Pieces[note 7][23] | Average White Band | US | February 22, 1975 |
The Hustle[note 8][23] | Van McCoy and the Soul City Orchestra | US | July 26, 1975 |
Fly, Robin, Fly[note 9] | Silver Convention | US | November 29, 1975 |
Theme from S.W.A.T.[23] | Rhythm Heritage | US | February 28, 1976 |
A Fifth of Beethoven[23] | Walter Murphy | US | October 9, 1976 |
Gonna Fly Now[note 10] | Bill Conti | US | July 2, 1977 |
Star Wars Theme/Cantina Band[note 4] | Meco | US | October 1, 1977 |
Rise[23] | Herb Alpert | US | October 20, 1979 |
One Step Beyond[note 11] | Madness | France | March 7, 1980 |
Chariots of Fire[23] | Vangelis | US | May 8, 1982 |
Miami Vice Theme[23] | Jan Hammer | US | November 9, 1985 |
Song of Ocarina | Jean-Philippe Audin and Diego Modena | France | January 18, 1992 |
Doop[note 12][5][24] | Doop | UK | March 19, 1994 |
The X-Files | Mark Snow | France | June 8, 1996 |
Flat Beat[note 13][5][25] | Mr. Oizo | UK | April 3, 1999 |
Bromance[note 14] | Tim Berg (Avicii) | Belgium (Flanders) | September 18, 2010 |
Harlem Shake[note 15] | Baauer | Australia/New Zealand | February 25, 2013 |
Harlem Shake | Baauer | US | March 2, 2013 |
Animals[note 16] | Martin Garrix | Belgium (Flanders) | August 17, 2013 |
Animals | Martin Garrix | Belgium (Wallonia) | August 31, 2013 |
Animals | Martin Garrix | Scotland/UK | November 17, 2013 |
Borderline cases[]
Template:Unref section 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" or "Topsy" or "Wipe Out" or "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; "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, 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[]
- Instrumental hip hop
- Instrumental rock
- List of rock instrumentals
- Easy listening
- Medley
- Post-rock
- Beautiful music
- Smooth jazz
- A cappella, vocal music or singing without instrumental accompaniment
- Backing track is a pre-recorded music that singers sing along to or a karaoke without vocals
Notes[]
- ↑ Contains several vocal interjections of the title.
- ↑ Features vocal interjections of the title at the end of each chorus.
- ↑ Contains several Scottish-sounding grunts at the end of each chorus and immediately beforehand.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 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.
- ↑ Contains vocal interjections before, during, and immediately after the choruses.
- ↑ Contains vocals at the beginning and during the fade-out.
- ↑ Contains vocal interjections at the end of the second and third verses.
- ↑ Contains vocal interjections of "do the hustle!" at the end of each chorus.
- ↑ Contains vocal interjections of the title at the end of each chorus and "up, up to the sky" as an ending.
- ↑ Contains vocals, which total thirty words and thus contains the most lyrics of any song classified as an instrumental which has hit number 1.
- ↑ Includes spoken introduction, and background chant of, "Here we go" at several points during the song.
- ↑ Contains, during its choruses, several nonsensical vocal interjections of the title.
- ↑ 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".
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ Contains samples of the line "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.
- ↑ "We're the f*cking animals" is said twice.
References[]
- ↑ Ozzi, Dan; Staff, Noisey (2018-04-11). "RLYR's 'Actual Existence' Is 40 Minutes of Beautiful Chaos". Noisey. Retrieved 2019-01-26.
{{cite web}}
: - ↑ Bernardinelli, Federico (2018-08-19). "Rocking on Banker's Hill, an Interview with El Ten Eleven". Arctic Drones. Retrieved 2019-01-26.
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: - ↑ "Interview with Jasper TX | Sweden Experimental interviews". www.tokafi.com. Retrieved 2019-01-26.
{{cite web}}
: - ↑ Huey, Steve. "Mantovani: Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved 14 May 2010.
{{cite web}}
: - ↑ 5.00 5.01 5.02 5.03 5.04 5.05 5.06 5.07 5.08 5.09 5.10 5.11 5.12 5.13 5.14 5.15 5.16 5.17 5.18 5.19 5.20 5.21 5.22 "Instrumental #1s". ukcharts.20m.com.
{{cite web}}
: - ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Mawer, Sharon. "Eddie Calvert: Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved 14 May 2010.
{{cite web}}
: - ↑ 7.0 7.1 Mawer, Sharon. "Winifred Atwell: Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved 14 May 2010.
{{cite web}}
: - ↑ 8.0 8.1 Huey, Steve. "Pérez Prado: Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved 14 May 2010.
{{cite web}}
: - ↑ Mawer, Sharon. "Lord Rockingham's XI: Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved 14 May 2010.
{{cite web}}
: - ↑ 10.0 10.1 "Pianist Russ Conway dies". BBC News. 16 November 2000. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/1027037.stm.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 11.4 11.5 11.6 11.7 McNair, James (10 December 2009). "Whatever Happened To The Hit Instrumental?". Mojo. http://www.mojo4music.com/blog/2009/12/whatever_happened_to_the_hit_i.html. Retrieved 19 December 2009.
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 "All Instrumental Top 20 Songs, every top 20 instrumental, Dec 1959 - Jun 1962". Tunecaster.
{{cite web}}
: - ↑ 13.0 13.1 "The Shadows founder member dies". BBC News. November 29, 2005. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/4480704.stm.
- ↑ "Country Music Hall of Fame To Welcome Floyd Cramer and Carl Smith". Broadcast Music Incorporated. 13 August 2003. Retrieved 13 May 2010.
{{cite web}}
: - ↑ Boynton, Graham (25 September 2009). "Hank Marvin: 'We should have taken Harrison's advice and sung'". The Daily Telegraph. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/music-news/6231899/Hank-Marvin-We-should-have-taken-Harrisons-advice-and-sung.html.
- ↑ Perrone, Pierre (23 September 2008). "Obituary: Earl Palmer". The Guardian (London). https://www.theguardian.com/music/2008/sep/23/popandrock.usa.
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 "All Instrumental Top 20 Songs, every top 20 instrumental, Sep 1962 - Oct 1966". Tunecaster.
{{cite web}}
: - ↑ 18.0 18.1 "Rhythm magazine". Rhythm. March 2001. http://www.brianbennettmusic.co.uk/art_rhythm.php.
- ↑ "The Shadows founder member dies". BBC News. 29 November 2005. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/4480704.stm.
- ↑ Unterberger, Richie. "Jet Harris – Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved 19 December 2009.
{{cite web}}
: - ↑ 21.0 21.1 21.2 21.3 21.4 "All Instrumental Top 20 Songs, every top 20 instrumental, Oct 1966 - Jun 1973". Tunecaster.
{{cite web}}
: - ↑ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Hugo Montenegro: Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved 14 May 2010.
{{cite web}}
: - ↑ 23.0 23.1 23.2 23.3 23.4 23.5 23.6 23.7 "All Instrumental Top 20 Songs, every top 20 instrumental, Nov 1973 - now". Tunecaster.
{{cite web}}
: - ↑ "All the No.1s: Doop – Doop". Official Charts Company. Archived from the original on 5 January 2010. Retrieved 19 December 2009.
{{cite web}}
: - ↑ Siegler, Dylan (April 2000). "Mr. Oizo". CMJ New Music Monthly (College Media Inc.) (80): 39. ISSN 1074-6978. https://books.google.com/books?id=GCoEAAAAMBAJ&q=Flat+Beat+instrumental+1999&pg=PA39.

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