As I mentioned in an earlier post, one of the topics of discussion in our car ride to and from Holiday World yesterday was great rock musicians. Those in the car with me were at best vaguely familiar with some of the keyboardists that immediately came to my mind<\/a>, in some cases in spite of being aware of the bands they are associated with. And so this post is aimed at sharing some names that anyone should know, and sharing some concrete examples of their virtuosity.<\/p>\n The first name that ought to come to mind when someone says \u201cgreatest rock keyboard\u201d is of course Keith Emerson. He is famous for doing things like this:<\/p>\nhttp:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=TTrbIvKdKo0<\/a>\n Emerson may well be able to keep his all-time #1 rock keyboardist status. But one should not have the impression that there are no other serious contenders for the spot, or that it is a \u201cno contest\u201d situation. Perhaps the strongest challenger would be Jordan Rudess<\/a>, keyboardist with Dream Theater and the instrumental offshoot Liquid Tension Experiment<\/a>:<\/p>\nhttp:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=xgZhiYff7nM<\/a>\n Rudess is remarkable for his versatility (he will suddenly break into ragtime style, then be back in progressive metal mode making the keyboard sing the way we associate with electric guitar \u2013 an instrument which he can also play, I might add<\/a>).<\/p>\nhttp:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=WcEFhJdtZwo&t=6m35s<\/a>\n Rick Wakeman also absolutely has to be mentioned. This keyboard solo is phenomenal, and illustrates a similar playfulness to Rudess at the end:<\/p>\n