Session musicians are skilled in contemporary rock, jazz, country, or pop styles of music and are hired to fill in on recording sessions or in live performances. Session musicians may or may not be members of a specific music group and may or may not be known as individual artists in their own right. Session musicians are available for hire on an individual basis in recording studio environments or on stage for a single performance or for a series of performances as individual artists or as members of a group of musicians.

Session musicians may choose to work exclusively in a studio environment with one single studio or with several studios. Other session musicians may choose to perform in any situation where their musical skills are needed on a short-term or long-term basis. They may be hired for a few hours or for several months at a time. Session musicians provide backing for advertising, film, and television music productions; provide instrumental or vocal backing for established solo artists or groups; provide added instrumentation or vocals for bands or ensembles; serve as members of an ensemble for theatrical productions; give public or private performances as wedding singers or with club bands; or session musicians may serve as temporary or permanent part-time or full-time members of professional symphony orchestras.

Sessions musicians are highly competent with their chosen instruments, learn very quickly, and are highly skilled at reading music directly from musical scores.

Some session musicians have very successful and extensive careers, though they may never achieve celebrity status, while other session musicians quickly achieve celebrity status through their work with known bands, such as did Rick Wakeman and Jimmy Page, who are now widely known as skilled individual artists.

This article provides a general overview of session musicians. If you would like to submit an article regarding session musicians, please feel free to do so here at Media Positive Radio.