Multi-instrumentalist

In popular music it is more common than in classical or jazz for performers to be proficient on instruments not from the same family, for instance to play both guitar and keyboards.

Georg Philipp Telemann for example played violin, viola da gamba, recorder, flauto traverso, oboe, shawm, sackbut and double bass.

[4] Some famous classical composer-performers could play multiple instruments at a high level, such as Mozart, who was a virtuoso on the keyboard and violin.

Music written for symphony orchestra usually calls for a percussion section featuring a number of musicians who might each play a variety of different instruments during a performance.

The different types of saxophone use similar designs, varying mainly only in size (and therefore pitch), meaning that once a player has learned to play one it is relatively easy for them to translate the skills into another.

From the 1950s onwards and particularly since the development of jazz-rock fusion in the late 1960s, many double-bass players doubled on electric bass, e.g. Stanley Clarke and John Patitucci.

By the time of his death, Jones had played a multitude of instruments on released recordings ranging from traditional blues hallmarks – like the Harmonica, Slide Guitar and the Piano – to more exotic ones such as the Sitar, Mellotron and the Appalachian Dulcimer.

[7] Progressive rock composer Mike Oldfield plays many types of guitars, organ, piano, mandolin, timpani, and bouzouki (among others) with proficiency.

In bluegrass music, it is very common for musicians to be skilled on a number of different instruments, including guitar, banjo, fiddle and upright bass.