A cappella singing is a type of music performance where a singer or a singing group performs without instrumental accompaniment. The term "a cappella" was originally used to differentiate between Renaissance polyphony and Baroque concertato musical styles. A cappella music was originally used in religious music, especially church music, as well as anasheed and zemirot. Gregorian chant is an example of a cappella singing, as is the majority of secular vocal music from the Renaissance.
Contemporary a cappella includes many vocal groups and bands who add vocal percussion or beatboxing to create a pop/rock/gospel sound, in some cases very similar to bands with instruments. Examples of such professional groups include Straight No Chaser, Pentatonix, The House Jacks, Rockapella, Mosaic, and Home Free.
In summary, a cappella singing is a type of music performance where the singers provide all the sounds without any instrumental accompaniment. It has a long history in religious and secular music and continues to be popular in contemporary music.
