How do *you* learn cover songs ?

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  • Hmm, I will check that out at home later, thanks!!
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  • Pretty similar to a lot of other posters.  These days I'll trawl the net for anything that might speed up the process - video lessons, transcriptions, tabs. I have a sceptical approach, depending on the source, and often end up having to make corrections to online stuff but it can still massively cut down the amount of work involved.

    I'm a great believer that most successful records are successful because they have great arrangements as well as being good songs, so I haven't a lot of time for the "pick up the basic chords and vocal and any prominent riffs and busk it from there" approach to playing covers.  YMMV.

    I listen to the song, usually on Spotify, and try to work out the guitar parts.  If there is more than one guitar part I will usually work out all of them, even if I know other people will be playing them, because I like to understand the interplay.  If there's a keys part I usually try to get the gist of that as well, because I'm working with a conscientious but inexperienced keys player and he might need a bit of help.  For a long time I was mainly a bass player and keep meaning to learn bass parts for songs we play as well, but I'm working with a guy who has no difficulty playing accurate bass parts and I've not got round to that yet.

    I will usually only resort to Transcribe! (which I agree is a fabulous tool) if something is hard to hear - buried in the mix, or very fast flurries of notes.  If a solo is notable in any way I will usually work it out note for note.  Some generic solos I might not.  If I don't want to play the solo on the record for any reason but the harmonic context doesn't lend itself to an interesting improvised solo I sometimes "compose" and memorise my own solo, mainly so it doesn't sound like cliched pentatonic or modal widdling. 

    Once I know what I intend to play I will play it along with the record until I'm comfortable I can get through it without mistakes.  If there's a particularly tricky part I might practice it along with a drum machine or metronome. starting slowly and working up speed if necessary.  I will usually also practice anything tricky at least 10% faster than the record as insurance against the band playing the song too fast.
    “To a man with a hammer every problem looks like a nail.”
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  • I'm a great believer that most successful records are successful because they have great arrangements as well as being good songs, so I haven't a lot of time for the "pick up the basic chords and vocal and any prominent riffs and busk it from there" approach to playing covers.  YMMV.
    Absolutely. If you;re going to be in a cover band at least learn the parts FFS. You see this a lot with semi-heavy rock like chilli's or foo fighters where so many cover bands clearly haven't bothered learning the original guitar parts. In my opinion what they are playing is at best a sketch of the song as a result.
    ဈǝᴉʇsɐoʇǝsǝǝɥɔဪቌ
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  • dafuzzdafuzz Frets: 1522
    Just about everybody has already said it already but I listen to the song over and over till I can replay it in my head at will.

    After that I look around for tabs. I tend not to use slow downy stuff, if I can't just play it with the tab in front of me then I haven't listened to it enough! Then I play along with the original recording, and these days you can find a lot of isolated guitar parts floating around on youtube etc which are wicked useful.

    Haven't played a cover live for years though. I've been meeting up with a vocalist and she wants to do a jazz duo thing with me on guitar and her singing, but that will be completely new arrangements, not the sort of cover we're talking about here. Other than that originals all the way.
    All practice and no theory
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  • I'm a great believer that most successful records are successful because they have great arrangements as well as being good songs, so I haven't a lot of time for the "pick up the basic chords and vocal and any prominent riffs and busk it from there" approach to playing covers.  YMMV.
    Absolutely. If you;re going to be in a cover band at least learn the parts FFS. You see this a lot with semi-heavy rock like chilli's or foo fighters where so many cover bands clearly haven't bothered learning the original guitar parts. In my opinion what they are playing is at best a sketch of the song as a result.

    Depends where you are, I have played in bands which have learnt their parts and been great muso's getting it right and died a death, conversely I have played in bands where the structure of songs is about there, ropey as hell at times, but the bands that have been most popular had nothing to do with quality and learning the parts right!
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  • TTonyTTony Frets: 27342
     We never rehearse as a band apart from maybe once a year if we need it. 
    That rehearsing stuff is over-rated 

    :D
    Having trouble posting images here?  This might help.
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  • I like eye contact between members and having a good idea how the songs work.
    To be fair we never play anything too complicated, but the feel is most important.
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  • I'm a great believer that most successful records are successful because they have great arrangements as well as being good songs, so I haven't a lot of time for the "pick up the basic chords and vocal and any prominent riffs and busk it from there" approach to playing covers.  YMMV.
    Absolutely. If you;re going to be in a cover band at least learn the parts FFS. You see this a lot with semi-heavy rock like chilli's or foo fighters where so many cover bands clearly haven't bothered learning the original guitar parts. In my opinion what they are playing is at best a sketch of the song as a result.

    Depends where you are, I have played in bands which have learnt their parts and been great muso's getting it right and died a death, conversely I have played in bands where the structure of songs is about there, ropey as hell at times, but the bands that have been most popular had nothing to do with quality and learning the parts right!
    It might depend a bit on genre but if you do that with rock/metal end of the spectrum you'll just sound shit no 2 ways about it. I've heard it time and time again.
    ဈǝᴉʇsɐoʇǝsǝǝɥɔဪቌ
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  • nickpnickp Frets: 182
    i bet you I'm just repeating others

    but grab a cuppa.
    headphones on.  tab if i can get it.
    using something that can slow it down/change key if necessary (jam up pro)
    guitar plugged in and ready to check chords.

    work out chords via tab/ear.  
    write down a chord chart for each section - most songs are 2-3 sections.  realising this made it reet quicker for me.  Tab out any single note stuff or odd chords

    play along using chord chart as a guide, to get song structure and basics happy.
    repeat widdly bits until I'm sick of them

    getting quite quick at it now.  Writing down a chord chart of the song and which sections go where is really important for me
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  • nickpnickp Frets: 182
    Jalapeno said:
    Most important - agree with band mates which version you are trying to cover ;)



    and this!
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  • I'm a great believer that most successful records are successful because they have great arrangements as well as being good songs, so I haven't a lot of time for the "pick up the basic chords and vocal and any prominent riffs and busk it from there" approach to playing covers.  YMMV.
    Absolutely. If you;re going to be in a cover band at least learn the parts FFS. You see this a lot with semi-heavy rock like chilli's or foo fighters where so many cover bands clearly haven't bothered learning the original guitar parts. In my opinion what they are playing is at best a sketch of the song as a result.

    Depends where you are, I have played in bands which have learnt their parts and been great muso's getting it right and died a death, conversely I have played in bands where the structure of songs is about there, ropey as hell at times, but the bands that have been most popular had nothing to do with quality and learning the parts right!
    It might depend a bit on genre but if you do that with rock/metal end of the spectrum you'll just sound shit no 2 ways about it. I've heard it time and time again.

    To other musicians generally ! But if they are in the audience and the unrehearsed band is onstage with the gig, I say that speaks volumes!
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  • Danny1969Danny1969 Frets: 10356




    I'm a great believer that most successful records are successful because they have great arrangements as well as being good songs, so I haven't a lot of time for the "pick up the basic chords and vocal and any prominent riffs and busk it from there" approach to playing covers.  YMMV.
    Absolutely. If you;re going to be in a cover band at least learn the parts FFS. You see this a lot with semi-heavy rock like chilli's or foo fighters where so many cover bands clearly haven't bothered learning the original guitar parts. In my opinion what they are playing is at best a sketch of the song as a result.

    Depends where you are, I have played in bands which have learnt their parts and been great muso's getting it right and died a death, conversely I have played in bands where the structure of songs is about there, ropey as hell at times, but the bands that have been most popular had nothing to do with quality and learning the parts right!
    It might depend a bit on genre but if you do that with rock/metal end of the spectrum you'll just sound shit no 2 ways about it. I've heard it time and time again.

    To other musicians generally ! But if they are in the audience and the unrehearsed band is onstage with the gig, I say that speaks volumes!
    Well getting a gig is not difficult if your not asking for too much money, there's some REALLY bad bands out there all the time gig'ing. To be constantly gig''ing and earning good money is a lot harder though and that generally involves being a lot tighter, well rehearsed and professional sounding
    www.2020studios.co.uk 
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  • MoANjAmMoANjAm Frets: 12
    Once you have the basic song learnt, always practice it standing up and try not to look at your fretboard all the time. This really imbeds muscle memory in your fingers.
    I also like to play without plugging in when I learn songs.
    If you have a lot of effects to use, try and work with those that embellish the song, not just your talent.
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  • koneguitaristkoneguitarist Frets: 4125
    edited January 2015
    Danny1969 said:




    I'm a great believer that most successful records are successful because they have great arrangements as well as being good songs, so I haven't a lot of time for the "pick up the basic chords and vocal and any prominent riffs and busk it from there" approach to playing covers.  YMMV.
    Absolutely. If you;re going to be in a cover band at least learn the parts FFS. You see this a lot with semi-heavy rock like chilli's or foo fighters where so many cover bands clearly haven't bothered learning the original guitar parts. In my opinion what they are playing is at best a sketch of the song as a result.

    Depends where you are, I have played in bands which have learnt their parts and been great muso's getting it right and died a death, conversely I have played in bands where the structure of songs is about there, ropey as hell at times, but the bands that have been most popular had nothing to do with quality and learning the parts right!
    It might depend a bit on genre but if you do that with rock/metal end of the spectrum you'll just sound shit no 2 ways about it. I've heard it time and time again.

    To other musicians generally ! But if they are in the audience and the unrehearsed band is onstage with the gig, I say that speaks volumes!
    Well getting a gig is not difficult if your not asking for too much money, there's some REALLY bad bands out there all the time gig'ing. To be constantly gig''ing and earning good money is a lot harder though and that generally involves being a lot tighter, well rehearsed and professional sounding

    Earning good money regularly is the hard part, if you are a weekend warrior, playing local for £50 each a night is fine, but there ain't enough work.
    Playing in a major city means lots of work, but also lots of competition, this is where being a better quality more professional band comes into play.
    You have not got to be good to be earning enough money to keep you out of a regular job, you just need to be on your own not in a band. Lots of average solo artists out there earning £100-150 a gig 
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