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Instruments Prompts

Led by the sound of a single instrument (the best guitar solo, filthiest bassline, a song carried by piano).

219 Instruments aux battle prompts to pick from. Use them for a song battle with friends, an aux war, or your next round in Aux Battles.

  1. Best Guitar Riff

  2. Best Bassline

  3. Best Drum Fill

  4. Best Saxophone Solo

  5. Best Violin Feature

  6. Best Piano Ballad

  7. Best Trumpet Moment

  8. Best Use of a Harmonica

  9. Best Banjo Track

  10. Best Cello Feature

  11. Song That's Basically Just Bass

  12. Best Use of Strings (Orchestral)

  13. Best Flute Moment

  14. Best Use of a Sitar

  15. Best Use of Bagpipes

  16. Best Acoustic Guitar Fingerpicking

  17. Best Use of a Synthesizer Lead

  18. Best Use of Handclaps as Percussion

  19. Best Use of a Choir

  20. Best Use of a Vocoder

  21. Best Use of a Brass Section

  22. Best Use of a Turntable Scratch

  23. Best Use of a Talk Box

  24. Best Use of Bells or Chimes

  25. Best Use of a Drum Machine

  26. Best Use of an Organ

  27. Best Use of a Kalimba

  28. Best Use of a Handpan or Steel Drum

  29. Best Use of Congas or Bongos

  30. Best Use of a Whistle Hook

  31. Best Use of a Slide Guitar

  32. Best Use of a Ukulele

  33. Best Use of an Accordion

  34. Best Use of Finger Snaps

  35. Best Use of a String Quartet

  36. Best Use of a Xylophone

  37. Best Use of an Electric Guitar Solo

  38. Best Use of a Double Bass

  39. Best Use of a Marching Band

  40. Best Use of a Theremin

  41. Best Use of Layered Vocals as an Instrument

  42. Best Use of a Clarinet

  43. Best Use of a French Horn

  44. Best Use of a Tambourine

  45. Best Use of Reversed Instruments

  46. Best Use of a Vinyl Crackle

  47. Best Use of a Distorted Guitar Tone

  48. Best Use of Hand Percussion

  49. Best Use of a Music Box Melody

  50. Best Use of an 808

  51. Best Use of a Fiddle

  52. Best Use of a Didgeridoo

  53. Best Use of an Autoharp

  54. Best Use of a Steel Guitar (Country)

  55. Best Use of a Cowbell

  56. Best Use of a Gong

  57. Best Use of Layered Guitars

  58. Best Use of a Bass Drop

  59. Best Use of a Vocal Sample as an Instrument

  60. Song Where One Instrument Steals the Whole Show

  61. Best Use of a Mandolin

  62. Best Use of a Vocal Harmony Stack

  63. Best Use of a Hi-Hat Pattern

  64. Best Use of a Guitar Pedal Effect

  65. Best Use of a Live Horn Section

  66. Best Use of a Timpani

  67. Best Use of a Snare Roll

  68. Best Use of a Kick Drum

  69. Best Use of a Rimshot

  70. Best Use of a Cymbal Crash

  71. Best Use of a Hand Drum

  72. Best Use of a Djembe

  73. Best Use of a Cajon

  74. Best Use of a Taiko Drum

  75. Best Use of a Steel Pan

  76. Best Use of a Marimba

  77. Best Use of a Vibraphone

  78. Best Use of a Glockenspiel

  79. Best Use of a Celesta

  80. Best Use of a Harpsichord

  81. Best Use of a Clavinet

  82. Best Use of a Mellotron

  83. Best Use of a Rhodes Piano

  84. Best Use of a Wurlitzer

  85. Best Use of a Moog Synth

  86. Best Use of an Arpeggiator

  87. Best Use of a Sidechain Compression Effect

  88. Best Use of a Filter Sweep

  89. Best Use of a Riser Effect

  90. Best Use of a White Noise Sweep

  91. Best Use of a Vinyl Scratch Effect

  92. Best Use of a Sampler Chop

  93. Best Use of a Loop Pedal

  94. Best Use of a Beatbox

  95. Best Use of a Human Voice as Percussion

  96. Best Use of a Whistle

  97. Best Use of a Kazoo

  98. Best Use of a Harp

  99. Best Use of a Lute

  100. Best Use of an Oud

  101. Best Use of a Sarod

  102. Best Use of a Tabla

  103. Best Use of a Santoor

  104. Best Use of a Shamisen

  105. Best Use of a Koto

  106. Best Use of an Erhu

  107. Best Use of a Pipa

  108. Best Use of a Guzheng

  109. Best Use of a Dizi Flute

  110. Best Use of a Pan Flute

  111. Best Use of a Recorder

  112. Best Use of a Piccolo

  113. Best Use of an Oboe

  114. Best Use of a Bassoon

  115. Best Use of a Contrabassoon

  116. Best Use of a Euphonium

  117. Best Use of a Tuba

  118. Best Use of a Cornet

  119. Best Use of a Flugelhorn

  120. Best Use of a Trombone

  121. Best Use of a Bass Trombone

  122. Best Use of a Sousaphone

  123. Best Use of a Bugle

  124. Best Use of a Baritone Horn

  125. Best Use of a Zither

  126. Best Use of a Dobro

  127. Best Use of a Resonator Guitar

  128. Best Use of a 12-String Guitar

  129. Best Use of a Baritone Guitar

  130. Best Use of a Bass Ukulele

  131. Best Use of a Charango

  132. Best Use of a Cuatro

  133. Best Use of a Requinto

  134. Best Use of a Bouzouki

  135. Best Use of a Balalaika

  136. Best Use of a Hurdy-Gurdy

  137. Best Use of a Concertina

  138. Best Use of a Melodica

  139. Best Use of a Pump Organ

  140. Best Use of a Pipe Organ

  141. Best Use of a Church Organ Swell

  142. Best Use of a Vocoder Choir Effect

  143. Best Use of a Vocal Chop Melody

  144. Best Use of Beatboxed Percussion

  145. Best Use of a Handbell Choir

  146. Best Use of a Music Box

  147. Best Use of a Wind Chime

  148. Best Use of a Rainstick

  149. Best Use of a Shaker

  150. Best Use of a Guiro

  151. Best Use of Claves

  152. Best Use of a Cabasa

  153. Best Use of a Triangle

  154. Best Use of a Woodblock

  155. Best Use of a Slit Drum

  156. Best Use of a Frame Drum

  157. Best Use of a Bodhran

  158. Best Use of a Talking Drum

  159. Best Use of a Log Drum

  160. Best Use of a Conch Shell Horn

  161. Best Use of an Alphorn

  162. Best Use of a Jaw Harp

  163. Best Use of a Musical Saw

  164. Best Use of a Glass Harmonica

  165. Best Use of Tuned Wine Glasses

  166. Best Use of a Typewriter as an Instrument

  167. Best Use of Body Percussion

  168. Best Use of a Stomp-and-Clap Beat

  169. Best Use of a Field Recording as an Instrument

  170. Best Use of a Sample Pad

  171. Best Use of a Drum Pad Fill

  172. Best Use of a Modular Synth

  173. Best Use of a Granular Synth Texture

  174. Best Use of an FM Synth Bell Tone

  175. Best Use of a Pitch-Shifted Vocal

  176. Best Use of a Formant-Shifted Vocal

  177. Best Use of a Robotic Vocal Effect

  178. Best Use of a Megaphone Vocal Effect

  179. Best Use of a Radio Filter Vocal Effect

  180. Best Use of a Telephone Filter Effect

  181. Best Use of a Reverse Cymbal Swell

  182. Best Use of a Tape Stop Effect

  183. Best Use of a Tape Warble

  184. Best Use of a Vinyl Crackle Intro

  185. Best Use of a Detuned Piano

  186. Best Use of a Prepared Piano

  187. Best Use of a Toy Piano

  188. Best Use of a Music Box Outro

  189. Best Use of a String Section Swell

  190. Best Use of a Solo Cello Line

  191. Best Use of a Viola

  192. Best Use of a Double Bass Slap

  193. Best Use of an Upright Bass

  194. Best Use of a Fretless Bass

  195. Best Use of a Bass Solo

  196. Best Use of a Slap Bass Line

  197. Best Use of a Chapman Stick

  198. Best Use of a 7-String Guitar

  199. Best Use of a Nylon String Guitar

  200. Best Use of a Classical Guitar Passage

  201. Best Use of a Flamenco Guitar Rasgueado

  202. Best Use of Guitar Harmonics

  203. Best Use of a Wah Pedal

  204. Best Use of a Whammy Bar Dive

  205. Best Use of a Guitar Feedback Squeal

  206. Best Use of a Kora

  207. Best Use of a Mbira (Thumb Piano)

  208. Best Use of a Duduk

  209. Best Use of a Nyckelharpa

  210. Best Use of a Hardanger Fiddle

  211. Best Use of a Hang Drum

  212. Best Use of a Dulcimer

  213. Best Use of a Washboard

  214. Best Use of a Jug (Jug Band Style)

  215. Best Use of a Vocoded Bassline

  216. Best Use of a Sub-Bass Wobble

  217. Best Use of a Reverse Piano Swell

  218. Best Use of a Cello Loop

  219. Best Use of a Distorted 808

How do instrument prompts work?

One instrument leads and the song is judged on what it does. "Best Bassline" is not asking for a song with a bass in it; it is asking for a song where the bass is the reason the track works. The constraint moves attention from the whole record onto one part of it, which is a different way to listen.

What makes a winning pick for an instrument round?

A part you can hum after one listen. The great instrumental moments are memorable in isolation, which is why a riff usually beats a solo: a solo is impressive while it plays, and a riff stays with the room until the votes go in. Technical difficulty scores far worse than people expect.

Which instrument prompts work best?

The ones for instruments that rarely lead. Guitar and piano prompts are crowded, because most of the room has a ready answer. Prompts like "Best Use of a Harmonica" or "Best Cello Feature" force everyone to search their memory, and a round where four people submit something the others have never heard is the best kind of round.

Instruments Prompts card from Aux Battles, showing Best Guitar Riff, Best Bassline, Best Drum Fill
Instruments aux battle prompts

Song lists for Instruments rounds

Hand-picked answers to instruments prompts, with a reason attached to every track. Useful when a prompt lands and nothing comes to mind.

Instruments prompts, answered

What are Instruments aux battle prompts?

Led by the sound of a single instrument (the best guitar solo, filthiest bassline, a song carried by piano). In an aux battle, Instruments prompts are the brief every player answers with a single song, and the room then votes on whose pick fits best.

What are some good Instruments prompts for an aux battle?

Three of the 219 on this page: "Best Use of a Cowbell", "Best Use of a Pan Flute" and "Best Use of Tuned Wine Glasses". A prompt works when it is broad enough that everyone has a song for it but specific enough that the picks are worth arguing about.

How many Instruments aux battle prompts are there?

219 Instruments prompts, part of a free library of 3,505 prompts across 16 themes. They are free to read, free to copy into a group chat, and free to play through on Aux Battles with no account and no download.

How do you play an aux battle with Instruments prompts?

Pick one Instruments prompt, say "Best Use of a Cowbell", and give every player the same brief. Each person submits one song from Spotify, YouTube or SoundCloud, the room plays the submissions back without revealing who picked what, and everyone rates them. The highest average score wins the round.