Making some noise

[Zesty Rage]

I'm literally at the point of wanting to get music out there that I'm just going to throw on a drum track and just play some random sounds. I haven't been active lately and I've never really been one to learn someone else's songs because I want to write my own. Is it wrong to not learn a cover song? I mean I have learned some songs but not to completion. Just trying to see how other people feel about playing cover songs. Any input is appreciated thanks

 

[Muz Malek]

I'm literally at the point of wanting to get music out there that I'm just going to throw on a drum track and just play some random sounds. I haven't been active lately and I've never really been one to learn someone else's songs because I want to write my own. Is it wrong to not learn a cover song? I mean I have learned some songs but not to completion. Just trying to see how other people feel about playing cover songs. Any input is appreciated thanks

Hey man. It depends!

A few reasons why people learn cover songs:
1. Sense of achievement - To be able to play something exactly like, if not, close to what your idols are playing. It gives us the motivation that we are one step closer to them.
2. Learning point - some people, including myself, take it as an exposure to familiarize myself with how different guitarists play, and it allows us to somehow get an idea of why, for example, a certain guitarist does this technique when it could be done in another. It's like how you'd say Kirk Hammett and Dimebag both plays metal, but what makes them sound different than the other? and the list goes on.

For me, personally, I clung on to A7X's solos and Syn's style for a good first quarter of my guitar playing and when I was doing adlib, my friends were able to tell that I was heavily influenced by Syn. Shortly after, I started picking up from others like Paul Gilbert, Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, John Petrucci, among the few. My friends who've seen me from the start of my journey praised me for the versatility, although it's not really original, because my main inspiration is Syn, but Syn's inspirations come from the names I mentioned earlier, so my 'style' didn't go too far off simple because of the chain of inspirations down Syn's alley.

Asides from covering songs from songs that have guitar, regardless of genre, I play along to melodies from a lot of songs ranging from metal/rock to even mainstream pop/k-pop music. I try to imitate the dynamics of the vocal lines and it helped me to discover techniques that I may have heard or seen played on a guitar, and some, never before!

So this is just my fair share from experience

To conclude, there's no right or wrong. It's just a matter of how much exposure you have. If you have a decent music theory education, sometimes it's still best to expand the knowledge and learn from the existing guitarists, and same goes for those who are self-taught - it doesn't hurt to try learn a little bit of theory here and there.

All-in-all, it's just a matter of how much you gain as a guitarist. The more you know, the better. Paul Gilbert is a fine example of someone who picks up a lot of his technique and inspiration from bands and guitarists he listens to, and also theoretically. That man never once not speak without mentioning where he plucks his inspirations out from.

Cheers!

 

[Dominik Gräber]

I'm literally at the point of wanting to get music out there that I'm just going to throw on a drum track and just play some random sounds. I haven't been active lately and I've never really been one to learn someone else's songs because I want to write my own. Is it wrong to not learn a cover song? I mean I have learned some songs but not to completion. Just trying to see how other people feel about playing cover songs. Any input is appreciated thanks

Hey, nothing is "wrong" in Terms of your guitar Journey.
I personally think it is really valuable to learn songs you love because it will challenge you to learn certain guitar techniques, it will help you identify how to play something way faster and you learn a lot about Song writing, Song structure because you will pay Attention to Details you probably never would just by listening to it. It's also a fun way to practice rhythm, Timing and even theory if you want that, by reverse engineering the Song and why it works.

I could not have written 3 originals if I hadn't learned Covers first. But everybody is different, you just gotta find what works for you!

 

[Calvin Phillips]

Whether you play your own or cover songs you're learning techniques. Its just easier to pick up the techniques learning other songs then your own.

I don't play covers and havent for years. Nothing wrong with it.

 

[Ed Seith]

I'm literally at the point of wanting to get music out there that I'm just going to throw on a drum track and just play some random sounds. I haven't been active lately and I've never really been one to learn someone else's songs because I want to write my own. Is it wrong to not learn a cover song? I mean I have learned some songs but not to completion. Just trying to see how other people feel about playing cover songs. Any input is appreciated thanks

Is it "wrong?" No, of course not. Everyone's journey is their own.

However, learning cover songs is a good way to learn common song structures and things that work, and to help you understand WHY they work.

 

[Zesty Rage]

Is it "wrong?" No, of course not. Everyone's journey is their own.

However, learning cover songs is a good way to learn common song structures and things that work, and to help you understand WHY they work.

That makes sense. The one thing I always hate about learning cover songs is that I try to learn it by ear. I have "Ultimate Guitar Tabs" on my phone but the pro Tabs are barely ever accurate if you ask me. It's not that I hate learning cover songs it's just that if I had a choice I'd much rather spend time writing something than to spend more time learning something that has already been written.