It doesn’t matter if you are writing an instrumental; as a segway piece on your album, for a soundtrack, or just as an expression. Instrumentals require a lot of attention to detail. without a vocalist, all the attention is now on the music you create.

Creating atmosphere is one of the most important parts of writing an effective instrumental. This can be done with a catchy rhythm section, as is the case with many jazz songs, or it can be done with a effects to make a great soundscape, as with many soundtracks. Regardless of what genre you are writing in, you will need to have a great sense of atmosphere in order to retain your listeners attention.

The other factor in writing a great instrumental is… the melody. Yes, the melody. Even Though you have no singer, you are still going to need a melody that takes the listener on a journey. In the case of a soundtrack this can be a subtle moving note in the effects, or it can be a pronounced and well defined instrument melody. Either Way, your instrumental needs to go somewhere, and the vehicle for that motion is the melody you write.