We surveyed 182 session musicians to learn what personality traits and interests make them unique. Here are the results.


Holland Codes

Session musicians are artistic and investigative

Session musicians tend to be predominantly artistic individuals, meaning that they are creative and original and work well in a setting that allows for self-expression. They also tend to be investigative, which means that they are quite inquisitive and curious people that often like to spend time alone with their thoughts.

If you are one or both of these archetypes, you may be well suited to be a session musician. However, if you are realistic, this is probably not a good career for you. Unsure of where you fit in? Take the career test now.

Here’s how the Holland codes of the average session musician break down:


Big Five

The top personality traits of session musicians are social responsibility and agreeableness

Session musicians score highly on social responsibility, indicating that they desire fair outcomes and have a general concern for others. They also tend to be high on the measure of agreeableness, meaning that they are very sensitive to the needs of others and value harmony within a group.

Once again, let’s break down the components of the personality of an average session musician: