The conundrum of the age because of the nature of music reproduction and audience expectation. Bands driving themselves to distraction attempting to reproduce note-wise and sound-wise an audience's expectation of a clone of the original which likely may have been produced using technology unavailable to a touring band, or unreproduceable live.

The band's mission will likely dictate what your quest might be. It's far easier working with tradtional blues, far more open to individual expression. You can personalize "Red House" to the nines, and still give it a Jimi twist if you care to, but impossible with something like "Stone
Free".. Even classic Chuck Berry has to be note-true to the solos to sound right.

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"Another day in paradise!"

My point precisely.

If you're playing "Freebird" how's it gonna sound if the song's hallmark slide melody is played incorrectly? Or the lead and fills in Tom Petty's "The Waiting"? Those riffs are pretty much etched into most fans' psyche and if you blow them, the song falls on its face. My philosophy is to listen to a piece several times, analyze the mood and the vibe that the music conveys, then try to replicate the key notes to make whatever I do sound convincing. One of our popular blues numbers is "I Think I Love You Too Much" but we've taken "liberties" with many critical aspects of the song and my riffs and solos sound nothing like Jeff Healey. Our rendition is a pretty good arrangement nonetheless. At the other end of the spectrum is the brisk two-stepper "China Grove" and the structure of that song really demands the type of solo that Tom Johnston laid down -- a logical progression up the E maj scale, some tasty double full-step bends, then a controlled letdown to re-inforce the chords coming back into the final chorus.

Innovate when appropriate, replicate when necessary. Blend the two whenever it suits the moment.

Arjay

Agreed. That Healy/Knopfler effort is a great favorite of mine but one, I'm sure, which does not sit high in the minds of most patrons who frequent live music venues. In fact, much of Healy's work would likely pass muster in that regard if you took liberites with the soloing or arrangements. Not so with something like "Sultans of Swing" or "Money For Nothing" .
Doc

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"Another day in paradise!"

+1 on playing the expected passages of songs you are covering then your improvisation will add to the songs kind of like your contribution to those songs and the listeners will appreciate that effort from you.

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you can save the world with your guitar one love song at a time it's just better, more fun, easier with a fender solid body electric guitar or electric bass guitar.

Very good advice given by all and Doc and Retroverbial summed it up pretty much the same way I would. Some songs just call for the solo to be pretty much spot on, if you heard a band playing Sweet Child Of Mine you would have the melody notes to the solo in your head before the player even started to solo, if he came out of left field and started to improv you would say he sucked.lol

You have a lot more liberties with blues songs and the more famous ones as long as you start off with the head or even play the first solo pretty true you could go off on your own and no one would even notice and those who play would pretty much understand what you are doing. This is one problem I have with Clapton when he is lazy. He has so many famous solos and songs like White Room or Badge to name a few, you would at least expect him to start the solo off with the famous beggining notes of those solos but he just comes out of left field with whatever is on his mind and it bothers me as I feel he is just being lazy. The funny thing is in The Concert for George he plays the While my Guitar is Gently Weeping solo note for note which probably had more to do with the circumstances and McCartney being there, as Paul is one for staying pretty much true to the recorded version. And I just laugh thinking of how Clapton must of loved having to actually sit down and relearn what he played over 30 years ago.lol

That's about the size of it! I just saw Clapton play Bellbottom Blues on youtube. His original recorded solo is a masterpiece of touch and control. He saw no need to reach back to the 70's to recreate it live. He has moved on.

I personally learn note for note as I have a tutor and i can hear note for note...Thats a personal gift I am proud to have but when it comes to playing for people or jamming i add Improv or other bluesy licks thatll fit from other songs its all great fun if tyhe band says otherwise then they aren't doing it right You are expressing YOU they can express them at home alone as noone will play alongside them if they are being Richards

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A painter paints pictures on canvas. But musicians paint their pictures on silence. ~Leopold Stokowski~

I dont believe in using tabs or books or note-for-note citation, I like figuring it out on my own and making it my own. '

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'Guess it depends.

Do you want to "read" a story aloud around the metaphorical campfire, or do you want to "tell" a story?

A big part of playing for me is the expression. I wanna play what I feel. Not what somebody else was feeling. Even if its a cover.

When I first started learning solos off of records in the '60s I learned many solos note for note,then I used that as a foundation for improv....I had to do it that way to see where the guy was coming from while I was copping his licks.
Learning to create tension and resolving it adds so much color to your solos.

Most people don't know that "Hey Joe" was a popular song before Hendrix recorded it--several British bands had recorded versions of it long before Jimi gave us his take...Hendrix didn't do it like the other versions (he slowed it down significantly and made it bluesier/less folky), and yet, his is the only version we think of as "correct".

SRV didn't record "Texas Flood" the "right" way, (i.e., the way it was written or recorded originally)...yet, his version is the way we think of it as "correct".

I rarely play anything the "way it was recorded", because it has already been done...unless I was the one who wrote it and recorded it...and even then, I sometimes play it differently, because I allow the song to grow and mature as time goes on (and I like to confuse the drummer ).

Do it your way, and if the other guys don't like it, find a different band to play with.

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Good Vibes To Y'all!



Screamin' Armadillos
Texas Roadhouse Music
Guitar/Slide Guitar/Harp/Vocals

Another vote for playing well-recognized parts close (if not perfect) to the original. This may also mean special tuning, the original key and what positions the solo is played in.

But once you've played that part, you can "own" the rest and make it your creation.

The exceptions might be a tribute band (already mentioned) or what we used to call a "Top 40" club. That is, a place where the audience expects everything just like the radio cut. In my band days, we agreed up front not to go for those types of gigs because we wanted to remain reasonably inprovisational.

The exception I make to exact key/pattern is when you need to hit your singer's voice. Never force your singer just to be in the same key as the original artist. I don't know how many "you're playing that in the wrong key" arguments I've had over the years ... no, I just happened to be in a band with a singer who had a much lower range than most rock singers.

Make the song your own and improvise. certain songs have key riffs that should be used as most people relate to, some of the famous riffs. Creating your own sound and style is what may put you on the road to fame, someday. At least, thats what I keep telling myself. LOL

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2012 American Vintage Telecaster 1958
09 Fender american deluxe strat.
97 Gibson les paul special P90's double-cut
65 Princeton reverb re-issue
2010 Guild Gad-F40e

What I don't like to hear is the actual bands who did the original song playing it note for note,to me that sounds like a cover band....I know that's not the case.
Some bands play the same thing all the time.
I like to hear as much improv as a guy can put into his solos.