Originally Posted by: rumbled
It's often said that it doesn't really matter and you should develop your own style, but it helps if they are at least recognisable! :confused:

I know exactly what you mean. I think its really important to understand WHY you are learning someone else's song so that you can then best decide how to approach it. Seems like there are three levels of learning someone else's song:

-tribute band: this is where you are going to pride yourselves on playing the music exactly as it was recorded, or exactly as whatever version of the song you have chosen to play. Here, you need to be really precise, not just with your playing, but with your tone too.

-cover band: it needs to be close, but not perfect. Not mistakes mind you, but if you digress a little from the original in an appropriate way, it shouldn't be a problem.

-personal enjoyment: take as little or a much of it as you like... whatever makes you happy. If you're finding you are putting your guitar down in frustration because you can't "nail" a specific part, modify it so you can play it well, and don't worry about getting it exact.

I find it odd that so many cover guitarists both on-line and guys I've met in person will argue about the tinniest little variation in playing a song, when the artist themselves are known to have played it with variations many times when playing live. It also good to be aware there's a huge difference in being influenced by someone's playing, and copying it note for note. It all depends on your goals... if your goal IS to play the song note for note, there's nothing wrong with that at all. It really comes down to what you enjoy. If you find you're forcing yourself to work on things you don't enjoy that much, be careful... its a good way to get you giving up on playing when instead you could be really enjoying it.

I really, really, struggle learning covers. I've written my own songs and my own solos, and can improvise melodically, but a lot of times when I'm trying to learn someone else's song, it feels like I'm battling against my own instincts and creativity, almost training my own style out of myself if that makes any sense. However, I feel that learning a few covers would be good for me, if only to know how challenging it can be! What I do is work on them one small section at a time (a tip Maggior gave me), in very short bursts . I also make sure I work on my own style and ideas so that the cover tune isn't the only thing I play during a practice session. It comes slowly, but I get there bit by bit. I think its really important though to still play confident, strong, and clean, rather than "pushing through" difficult parts with really rough playing. Otherwise, you're kind of telling yourself its ok to play sloppy, and really, going backwards in terms of progressing. You're always far better off to play something simple really well, than something really hard poorly.