I like creating my own songs more so than covering. I know a few cover songs but it gets kind of boring to learn more. I guess I just get more fufillment out of making my own stuff, plus I write guitar solos and lyrics that go along with it.

Hey Stratheads-

When I was starting out I began by learning a bunch of your standard covers (Sweet Home Alabama, Louie Louie...) then when my buddy and I started our band we began working on originals. I find that you learn a lot from covers that you then can work into your originals- Mainly song structure and rhythm.

Some covers are fun to play and when you throw them into a gig, the patrons really like it- (Sweet Home Alabama ALWAYS gets a Hoot Hoot and the dance floor becomes stacked with people.

Its great to rock hard with your originals but now and then...you cant beat a good ol'e classic-

Rock On !

The Freeze

I prefer covering other people's songs. This way, I don't have to think.

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You dig?

i prefer creating my own music.
its way to easy to play somthing that
someone else has already writen and done.
and also when you play somthing that has already
been done your not showing your talent or skills.
when you play somthing you wrote and not sombody else
you are showing the talents you have.

Personally, I like a little of both. As a song writter, it's always a tremendous thrill to write (and record) something that other people actually enjoy. My wife and I have both written tunes that we've recorded and then sat back and went "Wow! We did that?" LOL!!! Of course, we've also written some real trash too...but we'll try not to dwell on that . On the other hand, as The Freeze said, sometimes it's just fun to play some of those wonderful tunes that so many of us have listened to for years.

Now to that I would also add that here in Northern Ohio, it's really hard to get gigs playing strictly originals. There are quite a few "classic rock" bars, "blues" and "jazz" clubs and a couple of "country" joints around but there's not a lot of places where bands play nothing but original material...just not a lot of demand for it unless you're a well known local with an established following. Around here, people like to go out and listen to music that they know and love...simple as that. With that though, I would add that while I do love doing covers, I'm not a "note for note" kind of guy. While I have nothing against "tribute bands", it's just not my thing...I'd much rather make the tune my own so to speak. When I'm doing covers, my goal is not to have people walk away saying "gee...they sounded just like Fleetwood Mac", I'd rather have folks say "Wow...I really love their version of "Rhiannon"". Let's face it...would you really have wanted Hendrix to cover Dylan's "All Along the Watchtower" the same way ol' Bobby-boy did it? LOL!!! If Manfred Mann had of done Springsteen's "Blinded By The Light" the same way as Bruce did, most folks would probably never even have heard the tune. Just because a person is doing "covers" doesn't mean they can't be "original" doing them.

I would also add that when it comes to contemporary music (aka rock, blues, country, etc) that even with originals, there's not really too much out there that hasn't been recycled in one way or another. Lyrics? Sure...lots of original thoughts flying around out there, but the music? Using a very basic example here, let's face it...if you're playing a minor pentatonic scale over a 1-4-5 blues chord pattern, there's nothing really "original" about that at all! LOL!!! Individually stylistic? Certainly, but original? Hardly. I'm sure that somewhere there's some "science" to explain this, but the truth of the matter is that there are only so many ways that you can combine chords and melody to create a -pleasing- piece of music that's going to have any kind of broad appeal. You can jam a bunch of crap together and call it "art" but chances are unless your name happens to be Pablo Picasso, most people really aren't going to take it too seriously. More importantly, most people have had some degree of influences when it comes to music. The truth of the matter is that unless you've spent your whole life (and music career) inside of a sound proof, hermetically sealed bubble, most anything you write is going to be influenced by something or someone that you've listen too. This in and of itself negates any genuine sense of "originality". Even many of the great composers in history were often influenced by someone...either their contemporaries or other composers who came before them. If you listen to someone like Beethoven, you can hear the influences of people like Haydn and Mozart in his early work. I really don't think there's much in music today that's really new or original...just recycled and re-envisioned.

With all of that in mind, personally whether I'm doing originals or covers, I want to sound like -me- and I want to be recognized for having my own style and sound. That style and sound does come from a virtual plethora of influences and inspiration...Eric Clapton, Pete Townsend, SRV, BB King, The Beach Boys, David Gilmore...I'm sure you can hear a little of all of them in my playing. But it's still my heart and soul (and fingers) that are making the music regardless of the source/who wrote it. I like SRV and I love playing some of his tunes but I don't want to be SRV...I'm quite happy being myself (well...most of the time at least! LOL!). So which do I prefer as far as covers vs originals? I'm a guitar player...it's all good .

Peace,
Jim

I agree. I don't want be like SRV, David Gilmour, Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, etc. I just want to implement their style into mine, creating a unique style all together. I like doing covers, they're really fun to do and you can add your own twist to it, but with originals, even though people may not know them you can still have the satisfaction of knowing that you are not being compared to the original artist. Although it depends how good your original music is though. I hope people like my stuff

When I was young I didn't bother learning too many covers. I wanted to create damnit.
But now i'm older I have found out how much I could have learned by learning (and understanding) how another song I like was put together.
Plus it's makes it easier to play with people you don't know to just call out standard classic rock song and start playing.

-Eddie

I really enjoy writing in a group but also love to play other people's music. Especially when you find a way to make it your own- I am currently working on a sort of original 'medley' that incorporates parts of Trower's Daydream, SRV's Lenny, Pearl Jam's Yellow Ledbetter and Mayer's Slow Dancing In a Burning Room. They are all surprisingly similar and make a really cool sound when you blend them together.

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Custom Shop '59 Strat with John Cruz Master Design Pickups
Vibro King
Fulltone Clyde>Deja-Vibe>TS-808>TS-9>Boss Tuner

when i first started out playing, me and a buddy of mine always played cover songs up to when we started our first band. we played covers for a while but once we wrote our first song together we never looked back. its alot more fun to me to write our own stuff, but just recently i started to learn covers again. always fun once in a while for me

I think covers are good when one is starting to play guitar... but after a while originals are the way to go since you take your true imagination to life reflected in songs.... you might even get impressed about yourself

I like writing my own songs.

Since I'm learning really how to play and there is so much good music out there, I enjoy covering other's. I hope to, one day, write my own especially solos.

I enjoy doing both really. I'll learn songs and solo's and stuff and while listening/playing the covers I get inspiration to make my own stuff so its a 50/50 split.

I think most of us are in the same boat. AS long as you like playing, do what ever you have to to get better, at least in my opinion.

I've spent the better part of the last year writing and arranging my own original songs. I've written sporadically over the last 5 or so years, but I'm really getting into it now. I think I'm getting pretty good at it, too!

With that said, I did cover an instrumental from the '50s and an old CCR tune, "Born On the Bayou", because I always liked the vibe. But I'm sure they will be the last for quite some time.