Piano in Country Music

Posted on Jun 24, 2011 in Academic & Health Benefits, Piano Blog | 2 comments

When most people think of pianists, the first idea that emerges is classical music. Many early country music performers did not even consider playing the piano as part of their music-making. In fact, when Charlie Poole requested to use a piano in his recording, he was removed from his recording session. This anti-piano in country music ideal began to change as Opry player, Sam McGee was said to have learned to play music using a player piano roll.

Additionally, when Bob Willis was playing in fiddle dances, pianos were a widespread instrument of choice. The Western country music scene encouraged other pianists such as Moon Mullican. Moon Mullican joined King Records in 1946 and was henceforth known to be the first singer-pianist in country music. Other singers such as Mickey Gilley, Becky Hobbs, Ronnie Milsap and Gary Stewart followed using the piano as their main instrument.