Aninstrumental orinstrumental song ismusic without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shoutedbackup vocals in abig band setting. Throughsemantic widening, a broader sense of the wordsong may refer to instrumentals.^[1][2][3] The music is primarily or exclusively produced usingmusical instruments. An instrumental can exist inmusic notation, after it is written by acomposer; in the mind of the composer (especially in cases where the composer themselves will perform the piece, as in the case of ablues solo guitarist or afolk music fiddle player); as a piece that is performed live by a single instrumentalist or amusical ensemble, which could range in components from aduo ortrio to a large big band,concert band ororchestra.

In a song that is otherwise sung, a section that is not sung but which is played by instruments can be called aninstrumental interlude, or, if it occurs at the beginning of the song, before the singer starts to sing, an instrumentalintroduction. 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., theguitar solo that is a key section ofheavy metal music andhard rock songs). If the instruments arepercussion instruments, the interlude can be called a percussion interlude or "percussion break". These interludes are a form ofbreak in the song.

In commercialpopular 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. Ablues 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 includeelectric guitar,harmonica,upright bass/electric bass anddrum kit. Instrumental versions of songs can also be used to create remixes andmashups or used inDJ sets. If an instrumental version of a track is not released, it can be created throughstem separation/vocal removal.

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")
• Repetitivenonsense 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" byMetallica or "Wasteland" byChelsea Grin)
• Wordless vocal effects, such asdrones (e.g., "Rockit" or "Flying")
• Vocal percussion, such as beatboxB-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" byMötley Crüe or "For the Love of God" bySteve Vai)
• Non-musical vocal recordings taken from other media (e.g., "Vampires" byGodsmack)
• Field recordings which may or may not contain non-lyrical words (e.g., many songs byGodspeed You! Black Emperor and otherpost-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 fromShaft" byIsaac Hayes.

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

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