A musician is a person who plays or composes music. Musicians can be classified by how they make music:
- A singer (also called a vocalist) uses his or her voice.
- An instrumentalist plays a musical instrument.
- Composers and songwriters make up music and write it down.
- A conductor coordinates a musical ensemble.
It may also be useful to make a reference to the songs produced by some animals, including birds. Although many would surely debate that birds are musicians, their ability to produce variations on the characteristic song of their species is a subject for more research. The freestyle-chatter of even common birds, although lacking the complexity of methods employed by human-beings, must be looked at in terms of the origins of music. Human-beings did not begin producing music by banging away on a keyboard, nor are they the only creatures which respond to (or produce) rhythm and melody.
Types of musicians
See also: List of musicians by genre