Acoustic music

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Acoustic music refers to music that solely or primarily uses instruments which produce sound through entirely acoustic means, as opposed to electronic means. Given that electronic instruments are a very recent invention in the history of music, almost all musical instruments are acoustic and subsequently almost all music. The term "acoustic music" is a retronym, coined after the advent of electric instruments, such as the electric guitar, Hammond organ and the synthesiser.^[1]

Acoustic music may still be amplified using electronic amplifiers. However, these amplification devices must be separate from the amplified instrument and need to reproduce its natural sound accurately.

Following the popularity of the MTV Unplugged television show, acoustic (though in most cases still electrically amplified) performances by artists who usually rely on electronic instruments have become colloquially referred to as "unplugged" concerts.