Session musician in the context of "Studio recording"

Play Trivia Questions online!

or

Skip to study material about Session musician in the context of "Studio recording"

Ad spacer

⭐ Core Definition: Session musician

A session musician (also known as studio musician or backing musician) is a musician hired to perform in a recording session or a live performance. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a recording artist on a tour. Session musicians are usually not permanent or official members of a musical ensemble or band.

Many session musicians specialize in playing common rhythm section instruments such as guitar, piano, bass, or drums. Others are specialists, and play brass, woodwinds, and strings. Many session musicians play multiple instruments, which lets them play in a wider range of musical situations, genres, and styles. Examples of "doubling" include double bass and electric bass, acoustic guitar and mandolin, piano and accordion, and saxophone and other woodwind instruments.

↓ Menu

>>>PUT SHARE BUTTONS HERE<<<
In this Dossier

Session musician in the context of Chord chart

A chord chart (or chart) is a form of musical notation that describes the basic harmonic and rhythmic information for a song or tune. It is the most common form of notation used by professional session musicians playing jazz or popular music. It is intended primarily for a rhythm section (usually consisting of piano, guitar, drums and bass). In these genres the musicians are expected to be able to improvise the individual notes used for the chords (the "voicing") and the appropriate ornamentation, counter melody or bassline.

In some chord charts, the harmony is given as a series of chord symbols above a traditional musical staff. The rhythmic information can be very specific and written using a form of traditional notation, sometimes called rhythmic notation, or it can be completely unspecified using slash notation, allowing the musician to fill the bar with chords or fills any way they see fit (called comping). In Nashville notation the key is left unspecified on the chart by substituting numbers for chord names. This facilitates on-the-spot key changes to songs. Chord charts may also include explicit parts written in modern music notation (such as a musical riff that the song is dependent on for character), lyrics or lyric fragments, and various other information to help the musician compose and play their part.

↑ Return to Menu

Session musician in the context of Kyle Eastwood

Kyle Eastwood (born May 19, 1968) is an American jazz bassist and film composer. He studied film at the University of Southern California for two years before embarking on a music career. After becoming a session player in the early 1990s and leading his own quartet, he released his first solo album, From There to Here, in 1998. His album The View from Here was released in 2013 by Jazz Village. In addition to his solo albums, Eastwood has composed music for nine of his father Clint Eastwood's films. Eastwood plays fretted and fretless electric bass guitar and double bass.

↑ Return to Menu

Session musician in the context of Gary Usher

Gary Lee Usher (December 14, 1938 – May 25, 1990) was an American rock musician, songwriter, and record producer, who worked with numerous California acts in the 1960s, including the Byrds, the Beach Boys, and Dick Dale. Usher also produced fictitious surf groups or hot rod groups, mixing studio session musicians with his own associates (including Chuck Girard and Dick Burns). These bands included the Super Stocks (with the hot-rod song "Midnight Run"), the Kickstands, the Hondells with their No. 9 US pop single "Little Honda", and Sagittarius.

↑ Return to Menu