Keyboardists

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A musician who plays a keyboard instrument, such as a piano or synthesizer, often within a band or ensemble setting
2. An individual skilled in performing music using electronic or acoustic keyboards, contributing to live or recorded performances
3. A performer specializing in the creation and manipulation of sounds through keyboard instruments, typically enhancing compositions with harmonic and melodic elements

Etymology: This is a plural form, so it is simply the plural of "keyboardist," which is formed from "keyboard" plus the suffix "-ist." The word "keyboard" is a compound of "key" and "board": the "key" is the familiar lever pressed by a finger, and the "board" is the flat frame or table on which the keys were mounted, a sense it took from Old English "bord." Keyboards on organs and pianos were arranged as a board of keys, so the compound describes the instrument's playing surface. The suffix "-ist" arrived through Latin "-ista" and Old French "-iste" before reaching English, where it marks a person who practises or works with something. Attaching it to "keyboard" produced a word for a person who plays such an instrument. Its plural, "keyboardists," follows the regular English pattern of adding "-s."

Synonyms: keyboard player, keyboardsman