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piano player

piano player

22 2.3
A person who plays the piano
  • noun
  • /piˈænoʊ ˈpleɪər/
translation icon : pianista
  • The piano player captivated the audience with her stunning performance at the concert.
  • a famous piano player
  • jazz piano player
  • a good piano player

That is, you learn to become a piano player by practicing the piano.

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Examples

  • People would watch the slides and sing along with the organist or piano player.

    Academic text (1991)
  • Everyone steps aside and stops what they're doing—everyone except the piano player, who just keeps on playing.

    Fiction book (2002)
  • On Thursday, they had a piano player come in for the dinner shift.

    Fiction book (1999)
  • Hate to say it, but we're looking for a new piano player.

    Fiction book (1999)
  • I married a piano player, and a lot of chorus girls did that.

  • He's only the greatest piano player in the world.

  • He's the best piano player in town.

  • The TAP students with the top compositions in all categories were piano players with many years of experience on the piano.

    Academic text (2015)
  • She's come to fill in for Rebecca Goode, our regular piano player, who's down with back misery.

    Fiction book (1996)
  • The boogie was a popular dance, and piano players such as Fats Waller were proficient in playing the "boogie woogie."

    Academic text (1992)

Synonyms

musician
vspiano player
644 1.8

A person who plays or writes music for others

is specifically someone who plays the instrument as a performer not other musical roles
pianist
vspiano player
84 2.6

A person who plays the piano, often as a job or with great skill

is someone who plays the instrument not always as a professional
keyboardist
vspiano player
6 3.8

A musician who plays piano or other instruments with keys

is mainly about playing the acoustic instrument often as a solo or classical performer
instrumentalist
vspiano player
5 5.3

A person who plays a musical instrument, often as a job

is narrower, focused on one specific instrument rather than any instrument
keyman
vspiano player
4.5

A musician who plays instruments like piano or electronic keyboard in a band

is the general performer of the instrument outside a band setting

How Skilled

virtuoso
12 8.0
piano player
22 2.3
amateur
122 2.8

Surface Forms

piano player singular
piano players plural

Morphology

piano + player

The meaning 'a person who plays the piano' is directly and transparently derived from combining 'piano' (the instrument) with 'player' (one who plays). This instrument+agent noun pattern is common cross-linguistically and follows regular English compounding, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will readily infer the MWE meaning.

Etymology

The name piano player joins piano, the musical instrument, and player, someone who plays. Imagine a person sitting at the keys making music, so it means 'a person who plays the piano'.