I am Theo Whittle, a first year Uni Bass Player and I am going to be talking about being a session bass player. I have chosen to talk about this topic as it is a line of work I am wanting to pursue, I also have a bit of this reputation already and am experienced in the field. I record and play live for multiple artists every week, it is my favourite and I think one of the most beneficial ways to grow on your instrument and as an overall musician and communicator in a band/rehearsal/live/recording environment.
To be a session musician you don’t necessarily need academic qualifications to do so, however having say a degree in your profession will most certainly stand out to people who are looking for artists. Something I have learnt from experience is putting yourself out there, turning up on time, knowing your parts and building a good reputation for yourself is much more beneficial than having specific academic qualifications. Being a session musician is more of a free-lance profession, I say this as most session players are free-lance and work for themselves. I’d say this is due to payment and ease. Once your name and reputation is out there, you are much more prone to getting work rather than having an agency having your name alongside 20-30 others, and hoping you get the call is less controlled and out of your hands, however, there are agencies such as ‘Musicians Inc’,’AirGigs’,’Musiversal’ and more who hire artist and then send lists of names and the numbers of players to artists who are in need and looking for players. I think this can also depend on whether it is a full time or part time/side job for you. You want to gain as much experience as you can.
To succeed as a session player, you need some specific knowledge and attributes. You will want to have good knowledge of your instrument and it’s role within different genres. Good theory knowledge. You want to make sure you are aware of techniques, playing styles, modes and chords used in these genres you are going to putting yourself out there to play. Having a good sense of sense of tone and knowing how you are going to sound and how you want to sound. Also being able to read music is something that will help you massively however I do not see as being a necessity. I recently attended masterclass of Mo Pleasure who is a session musician, multi-instrumentalist. Mo said “I have been in sessions where people get kicked out for not being able to read, I wouldn’t do that. I don’t see it as fair, everyone works differently.” When it comes to attributes, you need to be someone that people want around, even if you are an insane musician, if you are difficult to be around and people know you for that, you are going to struggle to get work, that is a given. You need to be organised and reliable, again, if you are turning up late to sessions, forgetting gear, being unprepared, this will without a doubt be your downfall.
When it comes to a typical days work, that doesn’t really exist. Session player Vicky Warwick said “It depends on the tour.” Obviously here Vicky is referring to being on tour with Charlie XCX, on tour and in studio days will be very different. Tour days will be more repetitive, travelling, soundcheck, the show, sleeping, early wake up, back on the bus travelling. However as a recording musician, each day can be very different. For example on a Monday you could have 3 different sessions throughout the day, then on Tuesday one big session, however it is a 3 hour drive away. I am not someone who can do them same thing day in day out, I need change, I love to meet and play with new people everyday and making new friends.
Financially, everyone knows that trying to become a musician at all these days is not easy and making money to live off purely music, is not something that you stumble across. Things session players do to help this are having a set amount/flat fee whether that’s an hourly rate or per day, never lowering it is really important. You have to be stubborn. ‘It a pushover. This means you’ll know the amount that you’re going to be getting for each session regardless and leaves your financial situation more clear to see. Mapping out your year to see how many sessions you’ll need to do to make the money you need as it isn’t always the most high in paying work. You have to be very busy. I’m doing very well to be able to make a living off of just this. Before taking a job, you want to have discussed the deal with whoever is hiring you say that it is clear what your rights are. Obviously, you need to be credited as a player if you’re playing something they already wrote, if they want you to write something for them, you need songwriter credits. This is something that further down the line can cause you issues as you are not going to be getting paid what you are owed if these rights and credits are not correct.
Again session work is all about your reputation when it comes to marketing, with other people to market yourself for you without them realising, talking about you, mentioning you, putting your all into every session to ensure they say good things as it will lead back to you and getting work. However, market yourself you can and should also obviously do yourself. For example, on your social media having in your bio that you are session player and where people can contact you if they want you to work with them. Having a website and having that also in your bio is a massive thing that will help as well, more like an EPK where people can find your work, artist names that you’ve worked with, pictures, videos, contact details, where you are based, where you are willing to travel to, what you charge, and press quotes. Giving people a clear idea of what you can offer. Another massive thing in this day and age is of course social media. Being present on social media, posting daily, keeping them up up to date, stories, showing how active you are makes people see the work and acknowledge your efforts. Posting posts and reels of clips of you in a live situation is very beneficial too. Doing things like vlogs, rig run downs, travel up dates, collaborating with who you are working with in posts as well is great, socials are so important and having people see what you really are what you can really offer is so important in this line of work especially. Making sure you’re marketing and promoting yourself and people will read about who you really are and what you can’t really offer honestly, will be the most beneficial thing for you and your career.
If you are someone who struggles with time management, organisation and lack communication skills, you may struggle in this profession. This job is very full on, busy and can be extremely stressful even at the best of times. Having burnouts and dealing with other outside issues is something that you have to take into consideration and be prepared for. If you are someone who struggles with confidence and putting yourself out there, this will also get in the way of your work. You need to be able to back yourself be patient and trust in your character and you’re playing. Dealing with things like this can be difficult when in a job like being a session musician. Having to back out our sessions and take time off, especially if this is what’s funding your life is definitely very difficult and not too big of an option. However, knowing when you need time off, is very important and crucial. Having a structured routine every day that you do no matter how the rest of your day looks like, is also really important. Making sure you eat well and take breaks and get fresh air and not overwork or beneficial to keeping this job and lifestyle a foot.
Being session musician can take you through so many different avenues such as recording to going on tour with bands. Due to this being a freelance mainly specified job, it can be hard to get the money that you need to get in, however being a pure freelancer you can transfer to being a specialist and really knowing your stuff and being professional. From experience those who do session work are the most talented and knowledgeable at their instrument due to being with and meeting so many people over their career I’m playing all sorts of genres of music, this is seriously the best way to grow as a person and a musician. Going from being a session musician it can open up avenues such as being a band leader or MD (musical director) which again would be higher paying for you and more of a permanent role. Gaining all your knowledge you could go onto teaching to, educating those who need educating through masterclass or one-to-one lessons or workshops, or benefit other people and yourself in many positive ways. Also spending so much time in Studios and on tour, you can get more knowledge about being a tour manager for example, studio work as a producer or mixing engineer. Even being a bass tech for a bands tour or just a handful of shows, it’s more money and more experience that you wouldn’t have if you weren’t in this line of work.
I decided to write conclusion as I believe that being a session musician is one of the most fun and will gain you the most experience within your profession guaranteed. I think it is such a good career and really kind of makes you choose your own hours meaning it is a flexible job, you are practising every day thoroughly through just meeting people and playing with new people and playing on new records or going on a tour or rehearsing with a band, constantly learning and playing. This to me is a no brainer and something that I really want to be doing with my life and forever. I’m really inspired by people like Mo Pleasure, Pino Palladino, James Jameson and Carol Kaye, all players who in many interviews have spoke about how versatile and creative you become from being in the session industry. I seriously look up to Pino Palladino and his work for many reasons, one being he is Welsh like myself, I’m playing with artists like D’Angelo, Elton John and Adele, all artists and music that I would love to be a part of the projects. I seriously admire him and his work.
Reference list
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ICMP. (2021). Vicky Warwick | How To Be A Bass Session Musician. [online] Available at: https://www.icmp.ac.uk/blog/vicky-warwick-how-be-a-bass-session-musician.
Musiversal.com. (2025). Musiversal | Hire Session Musicians, Producers and Audio Engineers. [online] Available at: https://musiversal.com/.
Palladino, O.P. (2021). Official Pino Palladino. [online] Official Pino Palladino. Available at: https://www.officialpinopalladino.com/.
Pleasure, M. (2026). Mo Pleasure. [online] Mopleasure.com. Available at: https://mopleasure.com/ [Accessed 25 Mar. 2026].
