Music without lyrics is also known as instrumental music. Where good vocal music can stir the soul, instrumental music, without lyrics, can stir very primal emotions.
Music without lyrics, otherwise known as instrumental music, is any piece of music written solely for instruments with no vocal lyrics of any kind. Karaoke and other varieties of music without lyrics have become very popular in the last decade, but all these forms share a common background.
Most of today's popular music revolves around big name bands with even bigger lead singers, but there are many pieces of music without lyrics that are every bit as popular and well-known as the songs clogging the airwaves today. This fact has repeated itself throughout the history of the civilized world. These new venues for instrumental music are by no means the first, however. Human beings have been writing and performing on instruments alone since the dawn of time.
Early Instrumental Music without Lyrics
While the human voice has always been the primary means for man to create his music, early drums and flutes have been found that date back over 30,000 years. In a 1912 essay titled Origin of Song vs. Origin of Instrumental Music it is stated that music can be defined in 2 ways, as impassioned speech or as dance, one being emotional and the other almost primal:
Thus we see music dividing into 2 classes, one purely emotional, the other sensuous; the one arising from the language of heroes, the other from the swaying of the body and the patter of feet.
It was this general theory of vocal versus instrumental music that led the Catholic Church to frown upon the use of instrumental music in any of its services. It was not until much later near the end of the Renaissance Period in music history that instrumental music made modest entries inside the cathedral walls. Even today, 500 years later, some religious zealots still speak fervently that performing instrumental music without lyrics in a church service is sinful.
Instrumental Music Today
In modern society instrumental music is quite prevalent. While the majority of "popular" music has lyrics, instrumental music in the form of concert band music, orchestra music, and band music in general are growing in popularity. While the vast majority of music written throughout history has been lyrical in nature, more and more music without lyrics is being written, mostly to serve growing public school music education classes such as concert and marching band programs.
The musicians that perform in these ensembles, as well as those who attend their concerts are well aware of a very human truth: As has been known for centuries, while the human voice can express extreme passion, instruments are often the best and most fluent purveyors of emotion.
