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instrumental

instrumental

36 4.8
Relating to music without singing
  • adjective
  • /ˌɪnstrəˈmɛntəl/
translation icon : instrumental
  • How can band, orchestra, and instrumental ensemble directors best assess their students' learning?
  • instrumental music
  • instrumental and vocal
  • choral and instrumental

And he's got a he's got a number of instrumental albums.

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Examples

  • Another assessment tool used successfully with intermediate and high school instrumental classes is the checklist.

    Academic text (1999)
  • Bob used to say that when it was time for an instrumental break.

    Fiction book (1993)
  • But what is the best method of teaching instrumental music students about world music?

    Academic text (1999)
  • These B sides very often were instrumental versions of the A side track.

  • Wind Talk for Brass is an excellent reference source for instrumental music educators and students.

    Academic text (2011)
  • The most obvious and frequently used tool for diagnostic assessment in instrumental music is error detection.

    Academic text (1999)
  • Rice and Monroe both advocate two simple principles that are well known to instrumental teachers everywhere.

    Academic text (1999)
  • How do these standards suit the K-12 choral, instrumental, and general music settings?

    Academic text (1991)
  • Gordon's music learning theory can provide instrumental instructors with unique capabilities for teaching musical understanding.

    Academic text (1999)
  • The concert featured a beautiful instrumental piece that captivated the audience.

Antonyms

68 4.3

A part of a song that is sung by a person

Compounds

Music with no singing, played on a piano or guitar

instrumental role
  • Specialized
1 7.5

A thing used by a person to do something, like a key used to open a door

7.3

A type of learning where a behavior changes after a reward or punishment

Surface Forms

instrumental positive
instrumentalist positive

Morphology

instrumental = instrument (transparent) = instrument + al

This is a regular adjectival formation from 'instrument' and the musical sense is directly predictable from the base word.

Etymology

Instrumental comes from the same root as instrument, from Latin instrumentum meaning 'tool' — here the 'tool' is a musical instrument. So instrumental music is music 'for instruments', made by instruments rather than by singing.