58 Instruments That Made Rolling Stone’s Top 100 Songs Of All Time
You may be familiar with Rolling Stone‘s list of the “500 Greatest Songs Of All Time.” They first published their list in 2004, but updated it in 2010 to include more songs from the 21st century. The top 100 songs alone feature a wide variety of musical instruments beyond the standard guitar, bass, and drums. Berklee Online took the time to listen to each song and track the diverse instruments used throughout the tracks. Below you can see the infographic they developed to show this interesting and eye-opening information.
With a little vocal talent, some excellent songwriting, and a whole lot of brilliant artistry (amongst many, many other things) classic hits can reach instant or even cult stardom. But without their instruments—from the reserves like guitar and vocals down to the cabasa and glockenspiel—successful songs may have missed the mark.
From Rolling Stone’s most recent list of 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, we analyzed the top ranked 100 songs. These timeless songs from the 20th and 21st centuries demonstrate the key elements of a great song, including instrument choice.
Below, we’ve illustrated the instruments used in each and every one of the top 100 songs. While a large percentage of the selection use guitar, bass, and drums (no surprise here), the 58 instruments in this graphic go beyond the expected. From the swarmandal The Beatles used in “Strawberry Fields Forever” to the castanets in The Ronettes’, “Be My Baby,” and mouth harp in The Beach Boys’ “Good Vibrations,” these classic songs tap into more than the typical standby sounds.
* The instruments below were researched via two means: documented accounts of recording sessions as well as intensive critical listening. Some instruments may have been omitted due to a lack of documentation or clarity in the recording.
* Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Songs of All Time were selected based on a panel of music experts including musicians, critics, and other music-industry figures. Twenty-five new songs were added to the list when it was revised in 2010.
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58 Instruments that Made Rolling Stone’s Top 100 Songs of All Time Infographic by Berklee Online
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