Instrumental Zone

One of the best things about instrumentals is that you can make up your own lyrics, even if it's just "I'm walking to the shops" while you're walking to the shops. From the manic, swirling keyboard on "Telstar" by the Tornados to the trippy "Tubular Bells" by Mike Oldfield, there's a wordless tune here to suit all sorties.

The best instrumentals tend to become instant signatures: one spin of "Midnight in Moscow" and you're quaffing cappuccino on the Continent; the faintest sniff of the Ventures' "Walk Don't Run" and you're wearing bermuda shorts.

Variety is the key here. The Average White Band implored everyone to "Pick Up the Pieces" and Thelonious Monk served up jazz heaven on "Straight No Chaser."

Times have changed since a strange, bearded man called Acker Bilk picked up his clarinet and blew out "Stranger On the Shore" but one thing remains constant — there's a place in everyone's mix for songs without singers. Whether we're chilling to Brian Eno's "Another Green World", pulling up our collar to "Peter Gunn" by Dick Dale and His Del-Tones, or wondering how on earth we're supposed to dance to "Jessica" by the Allman Brothers Band, the music speaks for itself.