Instrumental music has a special characteristic and it is that it is loved by a group of people and little understood and hated by other groups of people, many opinions are usually given regarding this type of music, but there are definitely many who agree that when a musician has the necessary ability to be able to express his feelings and convey a message with many instruments, he doesn’t need to have a good letter or a voice.
Remember that music by itself opens the doors to various interpretations, but the idea will always be the same and it is to enjoy the essence of music, its notes, and harmonies along with the rhythm, and much more.
Within what is known as instrumental music, we want to present you a list with several genres of music, since it is not exclusive to jazz or classical music (although there are definitely many classical and jazz pieces that are important and famous, that would not fit in this top 20).
In this list, you will find songs that we consider the most outstanding taking into account the year in which they were released for the first time and with the success they had. in addition, it should be noted that many of these served as an influence for other musicians.
Here we leave you this list with the 20 best instrumental songs of all time without making the distinction of the music genre, so keep reading.
20. MASON WILLIAMS: CLASSICAL GAS (1968)
This interpreter from Texas was a genius, in addition to being an excellent guitarist, comedy writer, and creator of this beautiful piece, which won awards such as three Grammys. in addition to being number one worldwide, at the time that it was still believed that the instrumental songs were good music and of the purest.
19. Moby Dick – Led Zeppelin
This song had to enter this list of the best instrumental songs and this is one of the classics of the rock genre. Led Zeppelin with this masterful instrumental piece that includes an interesting solo with the drums in the hands of John Bonham and lines solid bass and guitar.
18. YELLOW MAGIC ORCHESTRA: BEHIND THE MASK (1979)
Then, from the fame of the album “Thriller’ by our beloved Michael Jackson, this huge instrumental song appeared, performed by Ryuchi Sakamoto, at that time, a great song, liked by many with a perfect melody for these years where it was recognized to instrumental music.
17. THE ART OF NOISE: MOMENTS OF LOVE (1985)
It was Scythian by the beloved Trevor Horn at its best, although this song was mainly driven by some vocal performances, this piece ended up being composed of a set of samples, also field recordings and some syntheses, which were blurred, the lines between various traditional mixed musical genres such as rock, new wave. pop. and dance.
16. HAROLD FALTORMEYER: AXEL F. (1984)
It is an electronic instrumental song created especially for the movie Beverly Hills Cop in 1984 starring Eddie Murphy, it is interpreted by Harold Faltermeyer.
After his debut in this film it became an international success, topping all the charts in 1985, he was incredible as a number one with this huge technique, in which only synths were used are Roland, with the Linn and the Simmons next to the electronic drums.
15. Ballade for Adeline – Richard cleyderman
This piece is the favorite of many and personally, we like it and we must admit that it had a phenomenal success within the classical genre.
Expert Tip: Usually it is used as music to set romantic spaces or videos and stop counting, in addition to this piece is an important part of party choreographies in the 80s and 90s and perhaps today it is still used, of course, in people who have started their piano lessons should not discard this piece as part of the initial repertoire.
14. HENRY MANCINI – THE PINK PANTHER (1963)
The incredible Henry Mancini was a famous extraordinary and very original music arranger, he was in charge of giving us this famous song, in addition, he was a writer of other pieces such as Peter Gunn and also Moon River.
We can only say that we can recognize this song wherever you go since it is linked to the cartoon of our beloved, funny, and intrepid pink panther it is a great instrumental song.
13. PINK FLOYD: THE GREAT GIG IN THE SKY (1973)
In your life, you may forget many things, but without a doubt you will not forget this piece after listening to it One of the most striking and curious things about this masterpiece is that it became the leading theme of all the strip-tease venues in the world. Despite this, we cannot deny that the chord progression is clean and hypnotic when listening.
12. ELTON JOHN: SONG FOR GUY (1978)
This is the favorite theme of many, and it also has an interesting story of his birth, this piece is performed by the famous Elton John, who also showed that despite having a great voice and lyrics with feeling and depth, also he was able to compose this masterpiece, full of feeling, it was even composed in 10 minutes. It was a natural feeling for him to write this song.
11. Fifth of Beethoven – Walter Murphy
Although it is a Beethoven classic, the ingenious Walter Murphy was successful when he decided to make a disco version of this famous classic piece, it was even part of the soundtrack of the beloved and famous film Saturday night, fever, which was the hit that marked an entire generation.
10. Feel so good – Chuck Mangione
This was undoubtedly a true best seller for the Jazz genre, taking over all the lists of the most listened to on the radios of this time, something that was not common in a Jazz piece.
Expert Tip: This song is a cheerful combination of Funk, some Soul, and Jazz where Chuck’s trumpet leads and stands out. transmitting that feeling of joy with clean notes and always with harmonies that will make you imagine the opening of any American comedy series of the 80s.
But without a doubt, it is an excellent song that knew how to stand out and is still valid for many people who love Jazz.
9. Europe – Santana
Santana will occupy a good position on this list, so we will talk about this piece, since it is an inspiration that crosses many borders, which was created full time and in the middle of transitions of social ideas.
As for musical expression, this was a little more free and original, since it did not depend on the global and massive communication that we depend on today and well, not to deviate from the subject, this song. “Europe” came to be one of the songs full of feelings and power of the author, and it is for that reason that it will not go out of style.
8. Adams hotel – Eumir Deodato
We cannot deny that it is a great success and what gave Fender Rhodes its reputation, it was written by Eumir Deodato. who gave it a funk style with some jazz influence and a bit of the Latin sound, hence this beautiful set of arrangements was born, musicals, this song is part of the album “first cuckoo”, and is because it is a true jewel of easy listening music.
Therefore, it is an irrefutable work of art that is truly capable of moving you to a place full of peace and tranquility, even if you don’t like this type of music, you cannot deny that it is an excellent song and deserves to be on this list.
7. Take five – Dave Brubeck
We continue talking about the jazz genre, even though it is a fairly extensive topic, but we cannot deny that songs, like Take five, is one of the few ”hymns” that standard jazz has with which anyone identifies the jazz genre.
Expert Tip: It is that type of song that everyone recognizes wherever they go, even if they do not know about jazz, because really, it managed to become a world-class classic that surely you would need a special post to list all the interpretations that have emerged in the inspiration of this piece.
6. Cause We’ve Ended As Lovers – Jeff Beck
This piece without a doubt is full of a lot of specific feelings and emotions it belongs to jazz-rock where the star is the strato interpreted by Jeff Beck, which is capable of transmitting pain and sadness that will move more than one. practically the entire song is an excellent guitar solo, also with very clean and clear notes.
5. Requiem of a dream – Clint Mansell
Do not forget that everything in this life is not ’rosy’ or pretty, and it is what this piece makes clear or transmits too many people which is famous for its dark and somewhat gloomy tints at the same time where instruments such as the violin and the cello, having the main role to give drama which will undoubtedly immerse you in a context of fear and catastrophe, but in addition to that, it is considered one of the best instrumental songs
4. Spring rain – Bebu silvetti
Naming and highlighting another disco theme without a doubt its rhythm is catchy, but what the author tries to highlight in this piece is his synthesizer, combined with a few chords, some synthetic strings, and the guitar accompaniment with wah. thus creating a pleasant piece with excellent rhythm and the most important thing is that it is durable over time.
3. Rise – Herb Alpert
This great theme does not leave an excellent melody with a trumpet to the best groove rhythm this song is the one that made the palms of many people sound with ‘rise”, as well as it also served as an influence for several artists, including famous artists of today and of musical genres that you can never imagine someone who could have any relationship.
2. Do the hustle – Van McCoy
Precisely at the heyday of disco music, there are some musical proposals that perhaps, in essence will not differ much, but although it is true that many of the great successes of that time we’re able to offer in terms of originality, there were also several good contributions, which will last in the history of disco music.
And because in the case of songs like ‘Do the hustle,’ we may not talk about a great masterpiece but we must make it clear that it is a good option with a happy tone and accompanied by a great rhythm that made many people dance at the time with its characteristic steps.
1. Sunset Ocean – Kaori Kobayashi
We close this great list of the best instrumental songs with this theme, and that is why we can broaden it if we can close it with this theme by the saxophonist from Japan.
Kaori Kobayashi, which although it may seem familiar to several of us and it sounds like the ending Japanese anime series theme, it is time to recognize that it is a good piece of smooth jazz with a style characteristic of Asian countries making it something interesting, original and pleasant to the ear.
In closing mode, we can only say that when we talk about instrumental music, the genres and songs are very wide and there is something for all preferences. This time we just wanted to name and highlight pieces that were important for each era and that each one defines something special, beyond transmitting the feeling and talent of the artist in question.
Just remember that music goes further, it is capable of changing our mood and producing different sensations at the same time. It is only a matter of us wanting to expand our senses, open our hearts to music and begin to truly enjoy it. in addition to giving due recognition to each artist, since this is an art a gift that not everyone has.