Throughout history there have been many great piano players. During their time, each of them was revered for their genius. Even today we have many great piano players who we respect and admire.

Contemporary Piano Greats

Right now, it is possible that two of the best contemporary piano geniuses are Elton John and Billy Joel. Both of these musicians have used the piano to tell their colorful life stories. Each of them can play a piano in a manner that makes you jump to your feet and scream, or bow your head and weep.

Going a little further back, but still recent enough to be considered contemporary are the piano players that showed us the piano wasn’t just for Sunday morning church and staid concert halls. These piano players were Little Richard and Jerry Lee Lewis, none of the music that these two sang, wrote and preformed would have been as great without the creative use of the piano in the melody.

Fats Domino was another person who is hailed as a great piano player. Born and raised in New Orleans, Fats Domino took what he learned working in nightclubs and bars and turned it into a piano playing career that eventually led to spot in the rock and roll hall of fame.

When we think of Louis Armstrong we think of the greatest trumpet player to have ever lived. What many of us don’t know is that his second wife, Lil Harden, was one of the great female piano players of her time. She not only helped launch Louis Armstrong’s career, she also spent several years leading her own band. Like her famous ex-husband, Lil Hardin-Armstrong’s musical genre of choice was jazz. Some people claim that her ability as a pianist was equal to Louis’s talent on the trumpet.

Historical Piano Greats

Many of the more historically significant piano players are better known for their ability to compose and conduct epic symphony pieces, but their abilities as composers should not detract from their talent as piano players.

The most legendary of all legendary piano players is Mozart. From the minute he sat down at the piano when he was just three years old people knew he was special. In the course of his career he conducted symphonies and wrote some of the most important pieces of music, compositions that are still played today. Mozart’s life and brilliant career came to an abrupt end in 1791.

After Mozart one of the greatest piano players and composers is none other then the brilliant Beethoven. In addition to playing the piano and organ, Beethoven is best known for his ability to compose phenomenal symphonies despite being deaf.