# Keyboardist > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Keyboardist > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Keyboardist.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keyboardist > Source revision: 1265992915 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|Musician who plays keyboard instruments}} {{original research|date=October 2010}} thumb|A pianist playing a piano A '''keyboardist''' or '''keyboard player''' is a [musician](/source/musician) who plays [keyboard instrument](/source/keyboard_instrument)s. Until the early 1960s musicians who played keyboards were generally classified as either [pianist](/source/pianist)s or [organist](/source/organist)s. Since the mid-1960s, a plethora of new musical instruments with keyboards have come into common usage, such as [synthesizer](/source/synthesizer)s and [digital piano](/source/digital_piano), requiring a more general term for a person who plays them. In the 2010s, professional keyboardists in popular music often play a variety of different keyboard instruments, including piano, [tonewheel organ](/source/tonewheel_organ), synthesizer, and [clavinet](/source/clavinet). Some keyboardists may also play related instruments such as [piano accordion](/source/piano_accordion), [melodica](/source/melodica), [pedal keyboard](/source/pedal_keyboard), or keyboard-layout [bass pedals](/source/bass_pedals). ==Notable electronic keyboardists== There are many famous electronic keyboardists in metal, rock, pop and jazz music. A complete list can be found at [List of keyboardists](/source/List_of_keyboardists). The use of electronic keyboards grew in popularity throughout the 1960s, with many bands using the Hammond organ, [Mellotron](/source/Mellotron), and electric pianos such as the [Fender Rhodes](/source/Fender_Rhodes). [The Doors](/source/The_Doors) became the first rock group to use the [Moog synthesizer](/source/Moog_synthesizer) on a record on 1967's "[Strange Days](/source/Strange_Days_(The_Doors_song))". Other bands, including [the Moody Blues](/source/the_Moody_Blues), [the Rolling Stones](/source/the_Rolling_Stones) and [the Beatles](/source/the_Beatles), would go on to add it to their records, both to provide [sound effects](/source/sound_effects) and as a musical instrument in its own right. In 1966, [Billy Ritchie](/source/Billy_Ritchie_(musician)) became the first keyboard player to take a lead role in a rock band, replacing guitar, and thereby preparing the ground for others such as [Ray Manzarek](/source/Ray_Manzarek), [Keith Emerson](/source/Keith_Emerson) and [Rick Wakeman](/source/Rick_Wakeman).The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (Muze); The Illustrated History of Rock, [Clouds](/source/Clouds_(60s_rock_band)) by Ed Ward; Q magazine article 1996 by Martin Ashton; Mojo Magazine article '1-2-3 and the Birth of Prog' nov 1994 In the late 1960s, French musician [Jean Michel Jarre](/source/Jean_Michel_Jarre), a pioneer of modern electronic music, started to experiment with synthesizers and other electronic devices. As synthesizers became more affordable and less unwieldy, many more bands and producers began using them, eventually paving the way for bands that consisted solely of synthesizers and other electronic instruments such as [drum machine](/source/drum_machine)s by the late 1970s/early 1980s. Some of the first bands that used this set up were [Kraftwerk](/source/Kraftwerk), [Suicide](/source/Suicide_(band)) and [the Human League](/source/the_Human_League). Rock groups also began using synthesizers and electronic keyboards alongside the traditional line-up of guitar, bass and drums; particularly in [progressive rock](/source/progressive_rock) groups such as [Yes](/source/Yes_(band)), [Genesis](/source/Genesis_(band)), [Emerson, Lake & Palmer](/source/Emerson%2C_Lake_%26_Palmer) and [Pink Floyd](/source/Pink_Floyd). [Fleetwood Mac](/source/Fleetwood_Mac), who had originated as a blues rock band, moved towards pop and soft rock and became known for synthesizer-infused hits in the 1980s such as "[Everywhere](/source/Everywhere_(Fleetwood_Mac_song))" and "[Little Lies](/source/Little_Lies)". Keyboardists are often hired in [cover band](/source/cover_band)s and [tribute band](/source/tribute_band)s, to replicate the original keyboard parts and other instrumental parts such as [strings](/source/String_section) or [horn section](/source/horn_section) where it would be logistically difficult or too expensive to hire people to play the actual instruments. ==See also== *[Pianist](/source/Pianist) *[Organist](/source/Organist) *[List of Hammond organ players](/source/List_of_Hammond_organ_players) *[List of harpsichordists](/source/List_of_harpsichordists) *[Classical pianists (recorded)](/source/Classical_pianists_(recorded)) ==References== {{Reflist}} ==Further reading== * Young, Percy M. ''Keyboard Musicians of the World''. London: Abelard-Schuman, 1967. ''N.B''.: Concerns celebrated keyboard players and the various such instruments used over the centuries. SBN 200-71497-X == External links == * [http://www.keyboardmag.com/ Keyboard magazine (US)] * [https://web.archive.org/web/19980130133039/http://www.keyboardplayer.com/ Keyboard Player magazine] * [http://www.harmony-central.com/Synth/ Harmony Central resource for keyboard/synth players] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100324075301/http://www.harmony-central.com/Synth/ |date=2010-03-24 }} * [https://web.archive.org/web/20080731083212/http://www.vintagesynth.org/ Vintage Synth Explorer] {{Authority control}} Category:Keyboardists Category:Occupations in music --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Keyboardist](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keyboardist) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keyboardist?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.