How to Become a Session Musician
If you love music and want to make a living playing your instrument, becoming a session musician is a great way. However, there are some things you need to know before you can get started. First, you need to practice as much as possible. This is crucial because it will help you improve your technical skills and build your confidence when recording in a studio setting.
Practice
A good session musician is a skilled and versatile player who can perform in various musical genres. They can sight read, improvise and understand music theory.
By joining band and orchestra programs, you can start developing your skills as a session musician, even in high school. This will give you experience performing music and help you network with other musicians in your area.
Strong sight-reading and transcribing skills are essential for jingle, television, or film sessions. These sessions can require you to play a specific part from sheet music on the spot.
Having multiple instruments makes you more flexible and increases your chance of getting work as a session musician. For example, if you’re a guitarist and can sing back-up and play keys, that’s a significant advantage. It’s also a good idea to know how to use different mics and pickups to create a unique sound for each session.
Network
Developing and maintaining solid relationships with peers in the music industry is crucial to your career. It’s also important to network with people outside the industry, as this can help you expand your reach and gain new opportunities.
Session musicians are hired to provide instruments for recording sessions and live gigs for a short period. They may be used as part of a band or project performing or recording or be hired to play a single track or an entire album.
A session musician who develops a reputation as consistently reliable and easy to work with is more likely to be hired for long-term projects. However, working as a session player can be challenging and stressful.
Fortunately, technology and networking platforms have made connecting and finding work easier for session musicians. Gig networks such as LANDR Network offer access to a wide range of session musicians and can connect you with the right talent for your next recording project.
Self-Promote
The ability to self-promote your music is one of the most important skills a musician can have. This is especially true if you have little major-label money behind your projects, as you will need to work on your marketing campaigns and promotion strategies.
Start by deciding your goals for your promotion campaigns and then work backward from there. Figure out where your target audience is, who they are, and what kinds of campaigns you can do to get them interested in your music.
You can also use social media to promote your music and your band. This can be a great way to reach new fans and connect with existing ones.
You can also write a blog about your life as a musician and post regular updates about your musical endeavors. This can be an excellent way to build a relationship with your fans and also help improve your website’s SEO.
Get Experience
Session musicians are critical to a band, recording studio, or music producer’s team. This career requires high musical skills, from sight-reading to improvisation and music theory.
While some session musicians have earned their stripes as professionally-trained conservatory or music performance degree graduates, most are self-taught. They can play a variety of instruments and are skilled at jazz improvisation.
In addition, they have excellent interpersonal skills and maintain a professional approach to their job. This helps them work well with other musicians and recording engineers, especially when dealing with a new group or instrument.
It would help if you practiced regularly and consistently to get the needed experience to be a successful session musician. This will ensure that you have the skills and expertise needed to perform at an expert level when it comes time to hit the road or work in a studio.