Session musicians are pivotal to the music industry. This career path provides an excellent opportunity for musicians to assert their identity into the music industry, as legendary session musician Steve Lukather recalls, ‘We always made up our own parts on records.’ (Rick Beato 2, 2023) Session musicians are highly skilled and are a cornerstone of modern music both in its creation and its upholding. In spite of their high demand however, only the top flight of them have both a deep understanding of music as a concept, as well as a high academic level of music theory and technical proficiency.
Session musicians require both academic and professional qualifications for their work, as well as a sufficient amount of real life experience in order to build up a rapport among other musicians. Firstly a well rounded understanding of music theory and a well trained musical ear play a vital role in being able to walk into a room full of professional musicians and be able to hold your own. This also comes from years of continuous practice of transcribing and sight reading skills, this separates the top session musicians from the rest as they can recite a piece of music much faster, deeming their time more valuable to a potential employer. Although it is not essential, many session musicians will have at least an undergraduate degree in music in some form, (e.g. a BA in songwriting ). For example some courses at leeds conservatoire cover different musical genres such as jazz, folk, classical e.t.c. (Leeds Conservatoire 2025). These courses typically entail aspects of music history, theory and performance/ production techniques. Other session musicians may also pursue a masters or postgraduate degree to deepen their level of understanding in their specialised field. However, above all these qualifications rely on an unfathomable amount of hours dedicated to practicing one’s craft, such as practicing the guitar for several hours a day. Real world experience is often regarded as the most invaluable factor, many smaller session musicians have to build up their own portfolio of projects, studio sessions and gigs regardless of the size. Working under and collaborating with bigger artists is an exceptional way of building strong connections within the industry to try and find bigger/ better gigs, while also adding to your portfolio.
A broad knowledge and skill set will only improve a session musician’s chances of succeeding in the music industry. One primary skill is having a high technical proficiency at your own instrument, as a guitarist you are expected by your employer to have the level of professionalism to play whatever melody/ riff at any required tempo to be worth booking. In scenarios where you are required to create the music yourself it is important to be able to improvise and have a well trained musical ear, for example if the gig is recording a solo for a new song. This also relies on a session musician’s versatility, as each gig may be in a different genre which they are not as used to playing in. Particularly as a session musician who is starting out, it is common that a lot of the gigs you get may not entail music that you enjoy playing or find interesting, professionalism and a positive attitude is key to come across as invested in the work you’re putting out. This means that having a high work ethic is also a crucial skill in succeeding as a session musician. A large portion of the job will include finding work for yourself, it’s difficult to find gigs when you’re starting out and don’t have a name for yourself yet, furthermore a strong work ethic and ability to stay motivated consistently is what keep a session musician’s career afloat. Being able to read sheet music and sight reading is vital, especially for guitarists as tabs may not always be readily available, and having this skill separates you from other musicians who may be deemed less qualified for a job without it. Recording techniques are also important skills, lots of session work is done online/ from home and leaves both writing and recording to the same person, being able to use multiple recording software makes you appear more versatile as a session musician, understanding how to use Ableton, Logic, FL studio and Garage Band could be a factor in choosing someone over a different musician who only understand how to use Logic. Having a plethora of digital audio workstations available to you widens your opportunity for work, it also makes you more versatile as a musician, as certain workstations are better suited to specific musical scenarios, for example FL studio maybe better suited to a producer interested in using MIDI and drum sequencing for a hip-hop beat, whereas Logic Pro or Ableton Live are arguably better for live tracking. (Music By Mattie, 2023). Finally being able to collaborate with other musicians and having good personal skills can make a huge impact on building relationships with clients, which helps to create longer lasting partnerships and in turn get return customers and more work via word of mouth. This is why real world experience is so valuable in a job such as session musicianship, as it implies a greater ability to collaborate successfully with other musicians.
Session musicians will often have multiple responsibilities as part of their job, a day’s work may vary greatly between session musicians, especially in the earlier stages of one’s career when there might be less opportunities. Typically self-marketing can take up a lot of time to try and broaden your client base, Instagram is a key example of this where we have seen a surge in self promoted music. Other days may entail live gigs, or submitting work online to meet a deadline for some work that was recorded at home. One common underlying occupation that exists in conjunction with live gigs is rehearsals, as often bands/ artists will want an opportunity to prepare for a show in advance, and this may take up much of a session musician’s time as well. A more established and successful session musician however may spend less time networking and marketing, as their reputation and portfolio is enough to draw attention on its own, and instead may be able to spend more time touring.
A common struggle that session musicians face is financial stability, it is often difficult to find consistent and paid work, this means that many don’t have a continuous income to support themselves. It is also common for smaller session musicians not to have their own standard rate yet and so the price for their work is often negotiated, on top of this many projects just aren’t up to scale or have the correct funding to afford industry standard fees. Session musicians may also have legal difficulties, for example a common dispute is that of royalties, and whether or not session musicians should receive any. Session musicians commonly do not own the rights to the music they have contributed to. Although it is not always affordable, one way to ensure fair pay is by using the musicians union to ensure a standard rate per hour is being achieved. (Musicians Union 2024)
A huge part of being a session musician is the relationships you have, being able to build a strong connection with different producers and artists is how session musicians get repeat gigs, this also transfers onto word of mouth referral, a good bond with one artist could be the difference between them recommending you to somebody else for a part in their upcoming project, and them suggesting a different person Self promotion and the ability to market oneself well is so important to become a successful session musician. Many networks via social media, this is also a common place to build up a portfolio, Youtube and Instagram have been seen countless times as vessels for music related mini series that help create public attention for one individual, for example, tutorial series’ teaching popular guitar riffs. (Music is Win, 2018). Being able to build up an online portfolio which looks clean and professional can give you an advantage in looking approachable for a gig, and can help land new potential clients. Consistency in uploads is a useful way to build traction and potentially broaden your opportunity for new employers.
A job like session musicianship comes with both intellectual and personal difficulties. One recurring personal challenge is mental stability. A new session musician with little connections and few opportunities for work will struggle initially to find regular income. A lack of schedule in itself is a common cause of mental instability. Motivation is hard to maintain when work is scarce. In some cases these factors are heavily present to the extent where people choose to pursue a different career path altogether, sometimes in a completely different industry. As always, consistently in networking and self promotion as well as a lot of persistence and self confidence is key in overcoming these boundaries. Through networking it is possible to create your own support network of other session musicians who may be in the same boat, having a small tight knit community to rely on when times are hard is a great way of keeping your motivation secure. It is important that session musicians are reminded that they must constantly be striving for self improvement and versatility to be able to keep up in a music industry which is ever changing.
A career as a session musician leads to multiple progression opportunities within the music industry. Many musicians aim to specify into one genre once they have achieved enough success within the industry to the extent that they can pick and choose the gigs they would like to take, potentially with the aim of making a name for themself within that genre. Some session musicians are fortunate enough to be able to go on tour full time, this is commonly achieved through building a strong connection and a healthy personal relationship with a bigger artist, to the extent that you have worked together so many times that it makes sense to become part of their own live setup. Some session musicians may choose to become a full time producer and set up their own private recording studio. Another common career outcome is teaching, many session musicians go on to become private tutors in their own areas of expertise, this can become a full time occupation creating a stable income.
In an ideal world, a session musician would just be successful enough to be able to pursue whatever specific area of the music industry they like, regardless of fame, (unless fame itself is the dream). It is definitely an extremely challenging profession, not only due to the academic and professional requirements and necessary skills and attributes, but also the constant mental fatigue and financial insecurity. However it is also an immensely rewarding profession. To be able to see one’s own progress through their output as a professional through the course of their own life and career is a phenomenal way to see self growth and also to evaluate your own work ethic, output and persistence. The multitude of financial, promotional and legal difficulties of this profession mentioned in this portfolio also highlight why it is often seen as a very difficult career path, however the resounding aspect of self reliance in session musicianship allows us to seek personal fulfillment, as well as career growth.
Bibliography
Rick Beato 2 (2023) Steve Lukather on the Insane World of Studio Musicians. 28 November. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1n0Pxqnixb8 (Accessed 12 December 2024)
Leeds Conservatoire (2025) Undergraduate courses, Available at: https://www.leedsconservatoire.ac.uk/courses/undergraduate-courses/ (Accessed: 3 January 2025)
Music By Mattie (2023) The Best DAW for Beginners in 2025!. 29 March. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3s4www6AKgs (Accessed: 2 January 2025)
Musicians Union (2024) Musicians Union. 16 July. Available at: https://musiciansunion.org.uk/working-performing/gigs-and-live-performances/live-engagement-rates-of-pay/accompanist-rates (Accessed January 3 2025)
Music is Win (2018) Legendary Licks You Think Are Easy (but aren’t). 19 September. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOJjxL82X2Q&t=4s (Accessed: 22 December 2024)
