How do you go about learning and mastering new instruments or techniques to expand your versatility as a session musician?

Learning new instruments is very useful as it gives you a more complete understanding of music. While I believe it's important to specialize in one instrument, a professional musician should be capable of mastering all the techniques related to their instrument. This enables you to be prepared for any challenges that different musical contexts may present.

I practice the drums every day and I make sure to experiment with ideas I’ve never explored before. Every session I play on and lesson I teach introduces me to new bands/artists/genres and I also put in the effort to keep up to date with & take inspiration from new developments and conversations happening in the wider world of music.

This means that no matter how long I’ve been making music for, I’m still a student who’s always looking to move forward, expand, and diversify my skills.

I have always considered myself an eternal student, no matter if I graduated as a classical pianist after 11 years of studies, if I studied jazz harmony with a great teacher or if I won a piano composition competition. I always place myself at the border of my own capabilities, at that point where I know I still have to learn, where I realize that if I want to keep learning, the rest of my life will not be enough. So I set aside important time to keep learning new things, because for me learning is more important than assuming I am an authority who thinks I don't need to know any more. I always like to know more.

Even as a musician I have sought to learn skills outside of music that can help me to be a better musician, I studied theater techniques for 3 years and that helped me a lot to penetrate more easily into the emotional nuances of musical works. In general, all kinds of learning add and enrich, in the end it creates a synergy of knowledge that strengthens the creative and expressive abilities.

I try to constantly update myself, not closing the doors to new technologies and not remaining attached to old stereotypes.

I approach it as an implementation of my toolbox. The old ones are always valid, but the new ones (if I find them useful) are welcome.

I approach new instruments or techniques with dedicated practice and structured learning to expand my versatility as a session musician. I break down each technique into manageable steps, focusing first on fundamentals and gradually building speed and precision. I seek out resources like tutorials, masterclasses, and even insights from other musicians to deepen my understanding. By consistently challenging myself and integrating these new skills into projects, I broaden my toolkit, ensuring I can deliver fresh and diverse sounds to clients.

I run my professional accounts in all socials and youtube. On those accounts, I post clips of me recording something I have never done before. If there is no specific project going on that I could post about, I could do a cover song for example. This way I get feedback from the community and everyone who views those clips. Reading comments and scrolling through the analytics gives me an idea about how I performed with said new technique. One could also ask directly from the audience, for example the video description could say: "Tried combining false chord screams with pitched shouts, let me know how you liked it in the comments!"

You should always be up-skilling yourself and working on new techniques that will help you deliver a fantastic product. With music, you can never stop learning and improving your skill. Practice every day before and after your session to keep your basics down and to add new techniques to your repertoire. 

Regarding new instruments, it is important not jump the gun and only offer services that you are fully proficient on and you are 100% able to deliver the goods!

I'm specialized on drums and I can also play piano, guitar and bass but the very important thing that improves my versatility as session drummer is my focus on the harmonic structure and the instruments of the song I'm going to record, because for me that's the key to have the perfect approach to play with the perfect drum feeling, groove and sound.