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bandleader

bandleader

9 3.4
A person who leads a music group like a dance band or orchestra
  • noun
  • /ˈbændˌliːdər/
translation icon : director de banda
  • The bandleader skillfully directed the orchestra during the concert.
  • black-suited bandleader

He's he's a bandleader for Fallon, which is the roots on Fallon.

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Examples

  • Then the bandleader asked the boy if he liked the springtime.

    Fiction book (1990)
  • The generator kicked in, and the bandleader stepped to a big microphone.

    Fiction book (1991)
  • But he told me that one bandleader in the band was enough.

  • My father went to see this bandleader.

  • The bandleader told me we have 23 minutes before they cut the cake.

  • - I'm your host and bandleader... - Shh!

  • Maybe this bandleader won't like how you play?

  • My name is Fred Armisen and I'm the bandleader and drummer for the show.

  • Eventually, she retired to manage her husband, Paul Whiteman, the bandleader who popularized the Charleston.

  • Concerto in F: George Gershwin was a successful 25-year-old composer of Broadway shows when the famous bandleader Paul Whiteman commissioned him to write a "jazz concerto" in 1924.

    Academic text (1998)

Synonyms

leader
vsbandleader
1.0

A person who guides and directs a group, organization, or country

specifically leads musical ensembles like dance bands or orchestras, not any group
conductor
vsbandleader
64 4.4

A person who leads musicians in groups like an orchestra or choir

directs social dance bands in public venues rather than formal orchestras
maestro
vsbandleader
64 7.6

A very skilled conductor or musician who leads an orchestra

leads dance ensembles or orchestras in everyday performance rather than being a celebrated artist
music director
vsbandleader
16 4.2

A person who leads the music for a group like an orchestra

focuses on leading dance bands or orchestras rather than broader planning
frontman
vsbandleader
12 4.1

A singer who leads a band and acts as its public face

leads musically in dance bands or orchestras rather than just singing in public
drum major
vsbandleader
3 5.0

A leader who directs a marching band and leads it in parades

leads dance bands or orchestras rather than parade or marching groups
frontwoman
vsbandleader
1 5.6

A woman who sings lead and is the public face of a band

leads musically in dance bands or orchestras rather than being the public singer
bandmaster
vsbandleader
1 5.8

A person who leads a band, often a military or marching band

leads civilian dance bands or orchestras instead of military groups
pipe major
vsbandleader
8.0

A person who leads a bagpipe band and arranges the music

leads dance bands or orchestras, not limited to bagpipe ensembles

How Senior

maestro
64 7.6
conductor
64 4.4
bandleader
9 3.4

Surface Forms

bandleader singular
bandleaders plural

Morphology

bandleader = band + leader (transparent) = band + leader

The meaning 'leader of a band' is directly and transparently composed from 'band' + 'leader', a standard compound.

Etymology

Bandleader comes from two simple words: band and leader. A band once meant a 'tie' or something that joins things and later came to mean a 'group', as in the words headband and wristband, and leader comes from lead, 'to guide', so a bandleader is the person who guides a musical group.