3 of the Best Classic Rock Solos That Aren’t Played on Guitar or Piano 

We classic rock fans love that moment when a song swings into the guitar solo, or less frequently, the piano solo. In the genre, the two main instruments used to play these mid-song solos are certainly guitars and pianos. However, what about the songs that feature solos without these two instruments? Have we and you overlooked them? If so, then we are going to remind you of three of the best classic rock solos that aren’t played on guitar or piano.

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“Jungleland” by Bruce Springsteen

One of the best qualities of Bruce Springsteen’s music is how it fully utilizes the entire band. While certain songs have their certain premier parts, each member of the band always gets their time in the limelight. On “Jungleland”, that limelight was granted to Springsteen’s longtime saxophone player, Clarence Clemons.

On this nearly 10-minute track, Clemons plays an impressive three-minute solo that takes up the entire middle segment of the song. While the solo stylistically matches the song’s general tone, Clemons separates the listener from the song and takes them on an independent journey crafted entirely by himself.

“Dust In The Wind” by Kansas

When a band implements the fiddle or the violin into a song, it becomes the dominant instrument. On Kansas’ single “Dust In The Wind”, that is certainly the case, as the violin solo played by Robby Steinhardt is certainly the song’s most memorable aspect.

Can you hear another instrument other than the violin on this track? We can’t, and that being so, the violin is this perfect bridge between the song’s two halves. Tonally, it amplifies the melancholy and existentialism of the song, and consequently, is arguably the most famous violin solo in rock history.

“Heart Of Gold” by Neil Young

The beauty of the harmonica is its simplicity. Most of the time, harmonicas are used as fills and tools of melodic embellishment, but on this track, Neil Young dedicates a whole minute or so to two separate solos. Don’t get us wrong, Young isn’t doing anything crazy and wasting his breath on any woodwing acrobatics, but both solos fit perfectly.

On a song such as this, there is seemingly no other option other than to use harmonicas on the solo. If Young decided to play something else, he would have gambled away the song’s sonic simplicity. While understated, the harmonica brings this song together, in our humble opinion.

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