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.
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Notable electronic 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.
Rock and pop
- Vince Clarke (Erasure, Depeche Mode, Yazoo)
- Keith Emerson (Emerson, Lake & Palmer)
- Brian Eno
- Martin Gore (Depeche Mode)
- Ralf Hütter (Kraftwerk, Organisation)
- Jean Michel Jarre
- Booker T. Jones
- Jon Lord (Deep Purple)
- Ray Manzarek (The Doors)
- Gary Numan
- Billy Preston
- Alan Price (The Animals)
- Nick Rhodes (Duran Duran)
- Florian Schneider-Esleben (Kraftwerk)
- Vangelis
- Stevie Wonder
- Richard Wright (Pink Floyd)
- Rick Wakeman (Yes)
Jazz
Generally speaking, in jazz music, electronic keyboard players are very often also pianists.
Classical
See also
- Pianist
- Organist
- List of Hammond organ players
- List of harpsichordists
- Classical pianists (recorded)
