Solo (music)

In music, a solo (Italian for 'alone') is a piece or a section of a piece played or sung featuring a single performer, who may be performing completely alone or supported by an accompanying instrument such as a piano or organ, a continuo group (in Baroque music), or the rest of a choir, orchestra, band, or other ensemble. Performing a solo is "to solo", and the performer is known as a soloist.

The plural is soli or the anglicised form solos. In some contexts these are interchangeable, but soli tends to be restricted to classical music, and mostly either the solo performers or the solo passages in a single piece. Furthermore, the word soli can be used to refer to a small number of simultaneous parts assigned to single players in an orchestral composition. In the Baroque concerto grosso, the term for such a group of soloists was concertino.

An instrumental solo is often used in popular music during a break or bridge to add interest and variety to a part of the song without lyrics.^{[citation needed]}

History

18th century

In the Baroque and Classical periods, the word solo was virtually equivalent to sonata, and could refer either to a piece for one melody instrument with (continuo) accompaniment, or to a sonata for an unaccompanied melody instrument, such as Johann Sebastian Bach’s sonatas for violin alone.^[1]

Sources

^ David Fuller, "Solo", The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, second edition, edited by Stanley Sadie and John Tyrrell (London: Macmillan Publishers, 2001).

[1] David Fuller, "Solo", The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, second edition, edited by Stanley Sadie and John Tyrrell (London: Macmillan Publishers, 2001).

[1]

v t e Musical ensembles by number
Solo: 1	Drum solo Guitar solo One-man band Piano solo
Duet: 2	Piano duet Piano four hands Musical duo Bicinium
Trio: 3	Clarinet trio Clarinet–cello–piano Clarinet–viola–piano Clarinet–violin–piano Flute, viola and harp Jazz trio Organ trio Piano Piano six hands Power trio (in rock music and heavy metal music) String Reed
Quartet: 4	Jazz quartet Piano Rock or pop quartet Saxophone Flute String Wind Woodwind
Quintet: 5	Brass Piano Pierrot ensemble Rock or pop quintet String Wind
Sextet: 6	Piano String
Other	Septet: 7 Octet: 8 String Nonet: 9 Decet: 10 Undecet: 11 Duodecet: 12
Large groups	Big band Brass band Choir Concert band Orchestra Singakademie String orchestra

v t e Parts of a song
Verse–chorus form	Introduction Verse Pre-chorus Refrain/Chorus Post-chorus Bridge Solo Guitar Drum Break Breakdown Outro False ending
Other musical elements	Bassline Counter-melody Drone Drop Harmony Vocal harmony Hook Melody Ostinato Loop Riff Rhythm Groove

History

18th century

See also

Sources