Musicians: jargon-buster

Accompanist: does what it says on the tin—a musician who provides musical accompaniment. An accompanist will often be a piano player who provides keyboard sounds for a singer.

Ambient musician: an ambient musician plays dreamy music that creates an atmosphere but doesn't take over. Originator Brian Eno believed ambient music could be "actively listened to with attention or as easily ignored, depending on the choice of the listener". An ambient musician might get a gig playing chill-out music at a club.

Experimental musician: avant-garde is another description for experimental music. This type of musician will adopt unconventional playing techniques to distort what is commonly accepted as music, and may incorporate sounds such as slamming doors and the ringing of a telephone.

Freestyle musician: this is pretty much about making up music as you go along. Rather than a set, formalised piece of music, a freestyle musician will perform spontaneously and improvise their sound as they see fit.

Gospel musician: gospel music, as its name suggests, is music that expresses a Christian belief. A gospel musician may be someone who sings solo at their local church or it could be a musician who is part of a choir.

Instrumentalist: a catch-all term to describe any musician who plays a musical instrument as a profession (for example, a singer could not be called an instrumentalist).

Jazz musician: many musicians prefer to play a particular type of music. Therefore a jazz musician will specialise in jazz music, while other genres of musicians might include a rhythm and blues musician or a rock 'n' roll musician.

Percussionist: a musician who plays percussion instruments, such as drums, cymbals, tambourines and maracas. If a musician is shaking, scraping or striking his instrument then he's a percussionist.

Session musician: this type of musician isn't in a group or band, but is hired to play by other musicians. A session musician might get work in a recording studio if their services are needed for a particular song or songs, or they might be hired for an entire tour.