Keyboardist

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A keyboardist is a musician who plays keyboard instruments. Until the early 1960s musicians who played keyboards were generally classified as either pianists or organists. Since the mid 1960s, a plethora of new musical instruments with keyboards have come into common usage, requiring a more general term for a person who plays them. These keyboards include:

electric pianos such as the Fender Rhodes and Wurlitzer electric piano
electronic pianos such as the Roland Digital Piano
Hammond and other electric organ such as the Farfisa and Vox Continental
analog synthesizers such as Moog and ARP synthesizers
digital electronic keyboards such as those produced today by Roland, Yamaha, Kurzweil and Korg
samplers
mellotron
clavinet
pianet
piano (but see Pianist for a list of famous pianists)
harpsichord
reed organ
celesta
clavichord
pipe organ
harmonium

It has become stylish among hard-rock enthusiasts and musicians to adopt an attitude of scorn and derision towards keyboardists and keyboard music. As an example, guitarist Ted Nugent goes hunting and shoots a keyboard in one of his DVDs. However, in general, the keyboardist has seen something of a resurgence in rock music in recent years, with bands like Maroon 5, Athlete and The Killers featuring keyboards prominently.

1 Notable electronic keyboardists
2 See also
3 External links

[edit] Notable electronic keyboardists

Main article: List of keyboardists

Note: while the term 'keyboardist' can cover a wide variety of instruments both acoustic and electronic, the following musicians are mostly known as electronic keyboardists, although they may also play piano or other acoustic keyboards.