musician

musician — noun

1. someone whose occupation or serious interest involves creating or performing mus

1.nounB1
Definition

someone whose occupation or serious interest involves creating or performing music through instruments, singing, or composition

Example

Karim works as a professional musician and plays cello in the city orchestra.

professional musician — implies music is this person's job

The festival organisers want musicians who can play traditional folk music.

musician + genre: folk musician / jazz musician / classical musician

Common collocations
  • professional musician
  • talented musician
  • street musician
  • session musician
  • classical musician
  • jazz musician
  • folk musician
  • aspiring musician
  • trained musician
  • fellow musician
Synonyms
  • performer

    broader term that also includes actors and dancers; 'performer' emphasises the live presentation, while 'musician' focuses on the craft of making music

  • artist

    emphasises creativity and originality; often used in 'musical artist' or 'recording artist' to highlight creative work

  • instrumentalist

    narrower — refers only to someone who plays an instrument, not a singer or composer

  • player

    informal; usually used in compounds like 'guitar player' or 'piano player' rather than on its own

Grammar Patterns

a/an + musician

musician + [prepositional phrase]

Usage Note

Frequently modified by a genre or role: 'a jazz musician', 'a classical musician', 'a street musician', 'a session musician'. The specific instrument or specialisation can be added: 'a classically trained musician' or 'a musician who specialises in baroque music'. Covers instrumentalists, singers, composers, and conductors.

Common Mistakes

She is a professional music.
She is a professional musician.
'music' is the art form (uncountable), not the person. A person who makes music is a 'musician'.

Word family

  • music
    nounA1
  • musical
    adjectiveA2
  • musically
    adverbB2
  • musicality
    nounC1

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

Musician is the most general and neutral term for anyone who creates music — instrumentalists, singers, composers, and conductors all count as musicians. Performer shifts the focus to the act of playing or singing in front of an audience; a composer writing alone in a studio is a musician but not (at that moment) a performer. Artist is the broadest of the group, used across all creative fields; calling someone a 'musical artist' highlights originality and personal expression rather than technical skill alone. Instrumentalist is narrower — it specifically means someone who plays an instrument, so it excludes singers and composers. Player is the most informal and almost always appears with an instrument name ('guitar player', 'piano player'), while 'musician' is the standard informal and formal choice. For instance, you would write 'a session musician' in a professional biography, not 'a session player'.

musician ↗performer ↗artist ↗instrumentalistplayer ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

  • group of musicians
  • fellow musicians
  • community of musicians

Adverbs

  • professionally as a musician
  • trained as a musician

Phrases

  • work as a musician
  • train as a musician
  • make a living as a musician

Prepositions

  • musician in [a band / an orchestra]
  • musician from [a city / a country]

Etymology

GreekLatinFrenchEnglish

Musician entered English in the 1300s from Old French 'musicien', which came from Latin 'musica' ('the art of music'). Latin borrowed it from Greek 'mousikē' ('art of the Muses') — the nine Muses were the goddesses who inspired literature, science, and the arts. The suffix '-ian' means 'one who practices or is skilled in', so a musician is literally 'someone skilled in the art of the Muses'.