The Collaborative International Dictionary
Vocal \Vo"cal\ (v[=o]"kal), a. [L. vocalis, fr. vox, vocis, voice: cf. F. vocal. See Voice, and cf. Vowel.]
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Of or pertaining to the voice or speech; having voice; endowed with utterance; full of voice, or voices.
To hill or valley, fountain, or fresh shade, Made vocal by my song.
--Milton. Uttered or modulated by the voice; oral; as, vocal melody; vocal prayer. ``Vocal worship.''
--Milton.Of or pertaining to a vowel or voice sound; also, spoken with tone, intonation, and resonance; sonant; sonorous; -- said of certain articulate sounds.
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(Phon.) (a) Consisting of, or characterized by, voice, or tone produced in the larynx, which may be modified, either by resonance, as in the case of the vowels, or by obstructive action, as in certain consonants, such as v, l, etc., or by both, as in the nasals m, n, ng; sonant; intonated; voiced. See Voice, and Vowel, also Guide to Pronunciation, [sect][sect] 199-202. (b) Of or pertaining to a vowel; having the character of a vowel; vowel. Vocal cords or Vocal chords. n. pl. (Anat.) The two pairs of mucous membranes that project into the larynx, and which produce the sounds of speech by vibrating under the influence of air exhaled from the lungs. See Larynx, and the Note under Voice, n.,
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Vocal fremitus [L. fremitus a dull roaring or murmuring] (Med.), the perceptible vibration of the chest wall, produced by the transmission of the sonorous vibrations during the act of using the voice.
Vocal music, music made by the voice, in distinction from instrumental music; hence, music or tunes set to words, to be performed by the human voice.
Vocal tube (Anat.), the part of the air passages above the inferior ligaments of the larynx, including the passages through the nose and mouth.
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WordNet
n. music that is vocalized (as contrasted with instrumental music)
Wikipedia
Vocal music is a type of music performed by one or more singers, with or without instrumental accompaniment ( a cappella), in which singing provides the main focus of the piece. Music which employs singing but does not feature it prominently is generally considered instrumental music (e.g. the wordless women's choir in the final movement of Holst's The Planets) as is music without singing. Music without any non-vocal instrumental accompaniment is referred to as a cappella.
Vocal music typically features sung words called lyrics, although there are notable examples of vocal music that are performed using non-linguistic syllables, sounds, or noises, sometimes as musical onomatopoeia. A short piece of vocal music with lyrics is broadly termed a song.
Vocal music is probably the oldest form of music, since it does not require any instrument besides the human voice. All musical cultures have some form of vocal music.
Usage examples of "vocal music".
Well, what I discovered -- and I certainly wasn't the first to discover it -- in the Amazon in the early '70s, was the people in these tribal groups get together and they take Ayahuasca and their habit is to sing to make music, vocal music.
Anthony Boucher, the most dearly loved and equally important person in SF, had a program of vocal music on a local radio station, and due to my interest in classical music I listened to the program.
We emphasize vocal music here, because the children seem to come out of their shells so readily in the process of joint creativity of beautiful harmonies.