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Do you call yourself a 'keyboard' player... or what?


pogo97

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I play a stage piano on gigs and also pipe organ at a local church. But piano and organ are vastly different instruments that share only a similar machine-human interface. So I call myself a pianist for gigging and an organist at church. I don't like the term 'keyboard player' because it implies that I should be okay playing anything with keys -- synth, piano, hammond, pipe organ, what-have-you -- and that's not the case. Since I also sing and play guitar, I'm happy to be called a 'musician' but not 'keyboardist'.

 

Thoughts?

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I NEVER refer to myself as a pianist.

 

Me neither. I don't deserve the title, and I've known too many truly great pianists to insult them like that. :lol::0

 

Synth player, keyboard player, guitarist, bassist, whatever. But I never call myself a piano player or pianist, even when I play piano.

 

I'll take guitarist and bassist / bass player, and considering my engineering background I feel comfortable calling myself a synthesist / synth player / programmer, although I am far from the most technically adept player insofar as keyboard technique.

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The term keyboard player for most of us is as accurate as describing a guitarist as a strings player. I detest the term. Why is our role defined in terms of the user interface type, whereas every other musician gets to play an instrument?

 

Would you hire a bunch of wind players for an R&B band? It be would hilarious if you got two guys on clarinet and one on piccolo to play the introduction to "Soul Man". But, hey, they'll all wind players, right?

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Hmmm... weird dilemma. I did start out as a "pianist" and I still consider myself one (especially after all those jazz lessons), but after I started getting into synthesis and organ technique, and eventually learned to master those as well, it was just easier to label myself as a "keyboardist", as it's one short term to cover all that I do, and it also implies that a "keyboardist" should know how to play ANY keyboard instrument, but may not be an 'expert' at any ONE of them.

 

I'll admit, it's not a very 'sexy' term, but it's one short word to let bands know who you are.

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