Instrumental

An instrumental is a musical composition or recording without lyrics or singing, although it might include some non-articulate vocal input; the music is primarily or exclusively produced by musical instruments.

In a song that is otherwise sung, a section not sung but played with instruments can be called an instrumental interlude.^[1] If the instruments are percussion instruments, the interlude can be called a percussion interlude. These interludes are a form of break in the song.

Contents 1 In popular music 1.1 #1s 1.1.1 Billboard #1 1.1.2 Billboard Hot 100 #1 1.2 Billboard Top 20 Instrumentals 2 Instrumentals in advertising 3 Borderline cases 4 See also 5 External links 6 References

In popular music

In commercial popular music, instrumental tracks are sometimes renderings of a corresponding release that features vocals, but may also be compositions originally conceived without vocals. An instrumental version of a song which otherwise features vocals is also known as a -1 (pronounced minus one).

The opposite of instrumental is a cappella.

In genres which the non-vocal part is conceived using electronic media, the instrumental not necessarily has to be conceived by musical instruments, but is the term to refer to some composition or version that does not include vocals.

#1s

Please note that listings written entirely in italic are borderline cases; i.e., they contain brief examples of the human voice.

Billboard #1

Pop music instrumentals that have reached #1 on the Billboard charts during the rock and roll era but before the Hot 100 include

• "Frenesi" - Artie Shaw (1940)
• "Song of the Volga Boatmen" - Glenn Miller (1941)
• "Piano Concerto #1" - Freddy Martin (1941)
• "Chattanooga Choo Choo" - Glenn Miller (1941)
• "Elmer's Tune" - Glenn Miller (1941)
• "A String of Pearls" - Glenn Miller (1941)
• "Moonlight Cocktail" - Glenn Miller (1942)
• "Heartaches" - Ted Weems (1947)
• "Twelfth Street Rag" - Pee Wee Hunt (1948)
• "Blue Tango" - Leroy Anderson (1952)
• "Autumn Leaves" – Roger Williams (1955)
• "Lisbon Antigua" – Nelson Riddle (1956)
• "The Poor People of Paris" – Les Baxter (1956)
• "Moonglow" / "Theme from Picnic" (medley) – Morris Stoloff (1956)
• "Patricia" – Perez Prado (1958)
• "Tequila" - The Champs (1958)

Billboard Hot 100 #1

Instrumentals that have reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 include

• "The Happy Organ" – Dave "Baby" Cortez (1959)
• "Sleep Walk" – Santo & Johnny (1959)
• "Theme from A Summer Place" – Percy Faith (1960)
• "Calcutta" – Lawrence Welk (1961)
• "Wonderland by Night" – Bert Kaempfert (1961)
• "Stranger on the Shore" – Mr. Acker Bilk (1962)
• "The Stripper" - David Rose And His Orchestra (1962)
• "Telstar" – Tornados (1962)
• "Sugar Shack" - The Fireballs (1963)
• "Winchester Cathedral" - The New Vaudeville Band (1966)
• "L'amour est bleu" ("Love Is Blue") – Paul Mauriat (1968)
• "Grazing in the Grass" – Hugh Masekela (1968)
• "Love Theme from Romeo & Juliet" – Henry Mancini & His Orchestra (1969)
• "Frankenstein" – Edgar Winter Group (1973)
• "Love's Theme" – Love Unlimited Orchestra (1974)
• "TSOP (The Sound of Philadelphia)" - MFSB featuring The Three Degrees (1974)
• "Pick Up the Pieces" - The Average White Band (1975)
• "The Hustle" - Van McCoy & the Soul City Orchestra (1975)
• "Fly, Robin, Fly" - Silver Convention (1976)
• "Theme from S.W.A.T." – Rhythm Heritage (1976)
• "A Fifth of Beethoven" – Walter Murphy (1976)
• "Gonna Fly Now" - Bill Conti (1977)
• "Star Wars Theme/Cantina Band" – Meco" (1977)
• "Rise" – Herb Alpert (1979)
• "Chariots of Fire - Titles" – Vangelis (1982)
• "Miami Vice Theme" – Jan Hammer (1985)

Billboard Top 20 Instrumentals

• "In the Mood" – Ernie Fields Orchestra (1959) #4
• "Walk, Don't Run" – The Ventures (1960) #2
• "Theme From The Apartment" - Ferrante & Teicher (1960) #10
• "Perfidia" – The Ventures (1960) #15
• "Theme of Exodus"- Ferrante & Teicher (1961) #2
• "Apache" - Jørgen Ingmann (1961) #2
• "Asia Minor" - Kokomo (1961) #8
• "Green Onions" – Booker T. & the MGs (1962) #3
• "The Lonely Bull" - The Tijuana Brass Featuring Herb Alpert (1962) #6
• "Watermelon Man" - Mongo Santamaria (1963) #10
• "Pipeline" - Chantay's (1963) #4
• "Maria Elena" - Los Indios Tabajaras (1963) #6
• "Washington Square" - Village Stompers (1963) #2
• "Out Of Limits" – The Marketts (1964) #3
• "Walk Don't Run '64" – The Ventures (1964) #8
• "Cast Your Fate To The Wind" - Sounds Orchestral (1965) #10
• "The 'In' Crowd" - Ramsey Lewis (1965) #5
• "A Taste of Honey" – Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass (1965) #7
• "No Matter What Shape (Your Stomach's In)" - The T-Bones (1966) #3
• "Zorba The Greek" - Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass (1966) #11
• "The Work Song" - Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass (1966) #18
• "Mame" - Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass (1966) #19
• "Music To Watch Girls By" - The Bob Crewe Generation (1967) #15
• "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy" - Cannonball Adderley (1967) #11
• "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly Theme" – Hugo Montenegro (1968) #2
• "The Horse" – Cliff Nobles (1968) #2
• "Classical Gas" – Mason Williams (1968) #2
• "Soulful Strut" – Young-Holt Unlimited (1969) #3
• "Theme from Hang 'Em High" – Booker T. & the MGs (1969) #9
• "Time is Tight" – Booker T. & the MGs (1969) #6
• "Theme from Hawaii Five-O" – The Ventures (1969) #4
• "Keem-O-Sabe" - Electric Indian (1969) #16
• "Midnight Cowboy" - Ferrante & Teicher (1970) #10
• "(Where Do I Begin?) Love Story (Theme from Love Story)" – Henry Mancini (1971) #13
• "Scorpio" – Dennis Coffey (1972) #6
• "Joy" – Apollo 100 (1972) #6
• "Taurus" - Dennis Coffey (1972) #18
• "Outa-Space" – Billy Preston (1972) #2
• "Popcorn" – Hot Butter (1972) #9
• "Dueling Banjos (Theme from Deliverance)" – Eric Weissberg & Steve Mandell (1973) #2
• "Also Sprach Zarathustra" – Deodato (1973) #2
• "Hocus Pocus" - Focus (1973) #9
• "The Entertainer" – Marvin Hamlisch (1974) #3
• "Tubular Bells" (Theme from The Exorcist) – Mike Oldfield (1974) #7
• "Theme from The Rockford Files" – Mike Post (1975) #10
• "Nadia's Theme (The Young and the Restless)" – Perry Botkin, Jr. (1976) #8
• "Theme from Close Encounters of the Third Kind" – John Williams (1978) #13
• "Feels So Good" – Chuck Mangione (1978) #4
• "Music Box Dancer" – Frank Mills (1979) #3
• "Theme from Hill Street Blues" – Mike Post Featuring Larry Carlton (1981) #10
• "Hooked on Classics" – Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (1982) #10
• "Axel F" – Harold Faltermeyer (1985) #3
• "Love Theme from St. Elmo's Fire" – David Foster (1985) #15
• "Songbird" – Kenny G (1987) #4
• "Theme from Mission: Impossible" – Adam Clayton & Larry Mullen (1996) #7

Instrumentals in advertising

Many times, instrumentals are used in advertising in place of vocalized music, because there is much more room for a product's information. Some notable cases are:

• "Moby Dick" – Led Zeppelin (Recycling Advert from '70s)

Borderline cases

Some recordings which include brief examples of the human voice are typically considered instrumentals. Examples include singles with the following:

• Short verbal interjections (as in "Tequila" or "Topsy" or "Wipe Out" or "The Hustle")
• Repetitive nonsense words (e.g., "la la..." (as in "Calcutta") or "Woo Hoo");
• A short spoken passage (e.g., "To Live Is to Die" by Metallica);
• Wordless vocal effects, such as drones (e.g., "Rockit" or "Flying");
• Vocal percussion, such as beatbox B-sides on rap singles;
• Yodeling (e.g., "Hocus Pocus");
• Whistling (e.g., "I Was Kaiser Bill's Batman" or "Colonel Bogey March").
• An omninous statement at the end (e.g., God Bless the Children of the Beast by Motley Crue, Cremation by King Diamond)

A few songs categorized as instrumentals may even include actual vocals, if they appear only as a short part of an extended piece (e.g., "Unchained Melody" (Les Baxter) or "TSOP (The Sound of Philadelphia)" or "Pick Up the Pieces" or "The Hustle" or "Fly, Robin, Fly" or "Do It Any Way You Wanna" or "Gonna Fly Now" (Bill Conti)). Falling just outside that definition is "Theme From Shaft" by Isaac Hayes.

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
• Choro, a Brazilian instrumental folk music

External links

• Every instrumental top 20 hit song from 1960 to the present from Tunecaster.com with a sample of each
• World of Instrumental Music - Instrumental Music Collection Demo

References

1. ^ http://www.blurtit.com/q4339876.html