The old adage of “all mainstream songs sound the same” couldn’t be farther from the truth. While most hits do use popular instruments such as drums and percussion, synths and synth bass to create mainstream familiarity, many also use atypical instrumentation and timbres or common instrumentation used in atypical ways to simultaneously stand out from the pack and create a unique vibe.
Instrumentation Used in Hot 100 Top 10 Hits: 2017 – YTD 2021
A perfect case-in-point is Ed Sheeran’s latest hit, Shivers, which uniquely uses pizzicato (plucked) strings as its main foundational hook throughout each section of the song save for the bridge, which breaks down to just claps, bass and acoustic guitar.
While strings in general have been quite uncommon in the Hot 100 Top 10 (used in only 16% of songs over the past five years), the use of prominent pizzicato strings has been even less common, especially to the extent they are used in Shivers. Furthermore, the use of strings is also atypical in Sheeran’s Hot 100 Top 10 body of work in particular. Only two of his other hits have featured strings – 2015’s Photograph and 2017’s Castle On The Hill – neither of which use them in the same capacity Shivers.
In Shivers, the writers strategically introduce the pizzicato strings in the intro, helping the song to stand out from the pack and grab the listener’s attention right out of the gate. Furthermore, the use of strings also works well with the song’s love/relationships-themed lyrics to create perfect prosody and heighten the listener’s emotional connection with the song. And it’s the combination of the two that makes the pizzicato strings so effective.
A few other notable hits in recent years that have incorporated unique qualities into their instrumentation are:
- Positions (Ariana Grande): This is one of the few songs that also used pizzicato strings in the same way as Ed Sheeran’s Shivers, functioning as a foundational hook underneath the lead vocals. Furthermore, plucked strings have recently become a part of Ariana Grande’s signature sound, having also appeared in her Top 10s 34+35 and Stuck With U along with other songs off of her most recent album.
- Rumors (Lizzo featuring Cardi B): This song features a powerful, funky brass section. While a brass section in and of itself is highly atypical in the Hot 100 Top 10 (used in just 6% of songs since 2017), using it as a key hook in the chorus of all places (as opposed to a post-chorus) is even more atypical. In addition to providing the chorus with a double-hook punch along with the vocals, the horns also give the song a unique classic soul vibe. Note that Shivers also includes brass in its choruses, yet another quality helping it to stand out.
- Rapstar (Polo G): This song uses ukulele, an exceptionally rare instrument in the Top 10, to deliver its main instrumental hook throughout the song. Here, Polo G teamed up with popular Youtube ukulele player Einer Bankz to give his song a vintage, indie sound, a unique offset to its hard trap beat and explicit lyrics.
- Levitating (Dua Lipa): The song features a unique vocoder-like synth that serves as both a unique calling card and the song’s main foundational hook in varying degrees of prominence.
- Highest In The Room (Travis Scott): This song features a highly atypical theremin-sounding synth. In addition to providing the song with a standout quality right at the top in the intro, it also perfectly jibes with the song’s psychedelic vibe, which is a recurring sound in Scott’s body of work.
- ZEZE (Kodak Black featuring Offset and Travis Scott): The song uniquely uses steel drums to deliver its main instrumental hook throughout the entire song.