What does instrumentalist mean?
Word: Instrumentalist
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: Instrumentalist means a person who plays a musical instrument.
Synonyms: musician, player
How do you spell instrumentalist?
Syllables: in - stru - men - tal - ist
Tricky part: The ending is ist, as in artist and pianist, not est.
Watch out for: instrumentalest, instrumantalist
Memory tip: An artist paints and an instrumentalist plays: both end in ist.
Instrumentalist in a sentence
Example 1: Ustad Amjad Ali Khan is a famous sarod player and instrumentalist.
Example 2: The school orchestra needs two more instrumentalists for the violin section.
Example 3: As an instrumentalist, Arjun practises the flute for an hour every evening.
Fun Fact
Some orchestra players can switch between instruments in one concert, such as flute and piccolo; musicians call this doubling.
Practise the CREST Way
Spell-o-Spell
Only one word in the list is misspelt. Choose the meaning of the misspelt word.
1. instramentalist 2. percussionist 3. vocalist 4. composer
a) a person who plays a musical instrument
b) a person who plays drums or other instruments that are struck
c) a person who writes music
d) a singer, especially in a band
Show answer
a) a person who plays a musical instrument. Instramentalist has an a where instrument needs its u; the other three are right.
Word Cookie
Fill in the missing letters to complete the word:
instrume_t_list
a) m, a
b) n, o
c) n, a
d) n, e
Show answer
c) n, a. Instrumental sits inside the word, so an n comes before the t and an a after it.
Mingle-Mangle
Unjumble the letters in the sentence to form a meaningful word:
The band hired a young aiultsinntsermt who can play both the tabla and the flute.
a) environmentalist
b) experimentalist
c) instrumentalist
d) sentimentality
Show answer
c) instrumentalist. The jumble holds a u but no o, v, x or y, so only instrumentalist fits.
Word Makeup
Only one of these words takes the suffix ation to make a real word. Choose it.
ation
a) song
b) flute
c) drum
d) instrument
Show answer
d) instrument. Instrumentation means the set of instruments used in a piece of music; fluteation, drumation and songation are not words.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. At a concert, the instrumentalist would be the person ____.
a) working the sound desk
b) writing the lyrics
c) singing the songs
d) playing the sitar
Show answer
d) playing the sitar
2. An orchestra's instrumentalists are usually led by a ____.
a) principal
b) captain
c) conductor
d) referee
Show answer
c) conductor
