In commercials for this film I hear the word pianist pronounced with the accent on the second syllable, pi-A-nist. I had always heard it pronounced with the first syllable emphasized and thought that was the only correct way. However, The Merriam-Webster online dictionary gives both.
Has anyone commonly heard it or pronounced it this way? Because my first reaction to the commercial’s pronunciation was they were afraid PI-a-nist would be mistaken for penis… 
Yay, I’m not the only one! I hate the previews for this thing. I have never, ever! heard “pianist” pronounced “pee-AN-ist”, and it grates on my ears badly. It’s “PEE-a-nist”, consarnit…
AUGH, dictionary.com lists “pee-AN-ist” as the first pronunciation! That’s it, they’ve lost all credibility in my eyes.
I named my dog Liberace, ‘cause he’s the peein’-est.
Well, YEAH.
Like when the Uranus probe finally got to the damn planet and suddenly all the newscasters were pronouncing it “YUHR-a-nus.”
Huh huh. You said “Urine-ous.”
My friend, who’s a hardcore piano player, insists it is pee-AN-ist, and not PEE-anist. He says you play a piANo, not a PEEano, so locigally he is a peeANist.
I always wondered why this common pronunciation of ‘one who plays piano’ puts an emphasis on the ‘i’ and not the ‘a’, like in the word piano. Anyone know why?
And let’s not get started on “flutist” versus “flautist.”
For the record, I’m a pretty fair country piano player, and I refer to myself as a “piano player.”
I’m no musician, but I say it the way your friend does for the same reason. To be honest, I’ve only heard it said the other way by people who were saying it in jest in connection to a “bar” joke.
I agree, and I am a pianist as well. My dictionary lists both pronunciations. I presume they are both accepted as correct. Personally, I have always said it: pi-AN-ist.
(And I, too, play the pi-AN-o, not the PEE-a-no. )
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Yeah, you think I asked for a twelve inch pianist?
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