Are you a "cover" or an "original" kind of player?

[Coop47]

Originally Posted by s2y

Original. I've never been able to escape the desire to write.

Cover. I've never been able to escape the desire to write, nor acquire the talent to do so.

I've written 3/4 of a song in the past five years and it's terrible. I have nothing but admiration for anyone who can write a song that resonates with people.

[CASD57]

Originally Posted by Daniel Grenier

So what do you play when you're alone in your music room, man cave, studio?

I only play covers when in a band or duo context. When alone, all I do is make up my own stuff and let myself fly off in whatever direction the day calls for. Incredibly rewarding and liberating. And, as a bonus, some of the stuff I come up with is 1/2 decent. I just find playing covers very limiting. It has its rewards live, certainly, but can be so stifling too.

You?

Kind of both.... I do covers my way ie.., tempo change, chord change, phasing, whatever it takes but I don't change it enough that you don't know what song it is...

[tdq]

As above...
Covers. But my own versions, and of songs that a lot of people wouldn't know anyway - although in a style that most people would recognize (old bluesy/rootsy). But then I don't gig much anyway, it's not like I'm working on fame or fortune.

[Nama Ensou]

I tend to play whatever I think I need/want to work on, which is sometimes originals that need practice or changes. When I'm working on the bulk of the material that I play at work though, I kind of treat them like originals and am constantly tweaking them too.

[Mooh]

I do covers my way, plus some original material. Not interested in note for note covers...I do too much of that while teaching others...and I want/need to express myself.

At my last gig, my daughter's wedding, I was playing some happy sounding celtoid-ish prelude pieces (Believe Me If All Those Endearing Young Charms, Joy Of My Life, Lark In The Clear Air, etc.) and because I wanted to look around at the scenery, see who was arriving, exchange looks with folks, I improvised between pieces/halves/intros and no one seemed to know or care so I guess it was all in the style and spirit of the moment.

[capefisherman]

I am always drawn to covers by other artists. Sometimes they work, sometimes they are borderline silly but I admire the spirit of experimentation. Example: Listen to the Canadian guitarist/singer Harry Manx's version of Van Morrison's "Crazy Love." Stunning.

For my part, I've been having fun lately with combining tunes (familiar or not) to come up with unique covers. My latest is a combination of the Jobim classic "Wave" with James Taylor's "One Man Dog." This is entirely instrumental, FWIW. Audiences seem to like those unique takes on songs.

[roylor4]

My wife has written several songs, many of which I co-wrote (mostly to help with chord progressions and providing musical tension).

I play mostly covers. I intend to produce a couple of songs i have written, but I'm unsure of how to go about it. Despite the fact that we play mostly Blues and Classic Rock - the stuff I have written lies somewhere in the Rage against the Machine and Eminem. Need less to say, not acoustic driven material.

[gfirob]

I think there is a difference between playing what is really background music to something else (playing in a restaurant, or farmers market or wine tasting or whatever) and playing for people that are sitting down and listening to you.

I am much more careful in the selection of tunes for an attentive audience and I try to provide interesting songs which I have collected and learned, usually obscure Americana, contemporary and traditional.

I like to find obscure songs that are excellent pieces, and adapt them to my own style. But I will play the occasional recognizable hit from the past, usually 30 to 50 years old or so, because people enjoy the familiar and these songs often come as a surprise in a set list of unfamiliar pieces.

In the end we are putting on a show and we should be entertaining the audience. I have a friend who writes and performs only his own music, but they tend to sound the same. Willie Nelson wrote over 500 songs, but only a small number are really great songs.

I really enjoy the process of prospecting for songs, on the internet, from other players or whatever, and finding one that I really like and working that up in my own arrangement. Variety is important.

[FrankHudson]

When I'm by myself these days I'm most always creating new musical compositions/recordings for my project of the past 3 years. What I've been doing is very intensive and requires near constant focus. As I said today on my project's blog most days I'm composing or recording (or else I'm avoiding same)

When I'm doing that avoiding I do two things:

A. I play other people's songs, often traditional folk-scare material. It pleases and relaxes me. If you've spent a working day struggling with a orchestral arrangement or trying to be a whole folk-rock band track by track with my constrained skills, it relaxes me to play Michael Row the Boat Ashore or the like.

B. I give myself a simple drum rhythm and bass lines and jam, mostly playing melodic lines. "Noodle." I do this for several reasons. It also relaxes and takes my mind off of other things, but I'm keeping flexibility and strength in my old guy fingers while I'm doing it. It also exercises my brain in quick thinking, which I think helps with the primary composition process overall--not just in writing melodic top lines, something that has actually atrophied for me as I don't have time to practice melodic chops as much as once did.