Instrumental Pop
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Instrumental pop is concise, glossy, and tune-first: strings or brass state the hook, pianos and guitars fill the middle, and drums stay tidy and supportive rather than driving. Tempos range from slow romances to brisk mid-tempo chart pieces, but the production stays smooth, radio-shaped, and deliberately unthreatening.
History
The style became a major post-rock alternative for adults who still wanted current hits and memorable themes, producing actual pop-chart smashes by Percy Faith, Bert Kaempfert, Ferrante & Teicher, and Paul Mauriat; it sat between light orchestral easy listening, soundtrack music, and pop radio, and by the late 1970s its chart role had shrunk even as its catalog remained central to compilation LPs, nostalgia radio, and library use.
Defining artists
Essential listening
Sources
- Joseph Lanza, *Elevator Music*
- Library of Congress, "Elevator Music"
- Smithsonian Libraries, "Popular instrumental music." citeturn7search21turn7search11turn7search13