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I Want To Be A Clone (Not)
Many guitarist start out by copying their heroes. It is only natural to try and learn the music you like. I wore out a few copies of Santana’s Moonflower LP learning the song Europa. (For all you under 30 players out there, there was a time when music came on vinyl discs, and the needles used to play them also eventually wore them out. We also didn’t have TABs or guitar magazines with popular songs in them. If you wanted to learn a song, you pretty much had to do it by ear. My, how far we’ve come.)
Eric Clapton was influenced heavily by American blues players. Keith Richards was obsessed with Chuck Berry. Eddie Van Halen has stated that he learned all of Eric Clapton’s solos note for note. Stevie Ray Vaughan was obviously influenced by Jimi Hendrix. However, none of them were content with just copying their heroes, they took that influence and created something new — their own style.
The Mimics
If you play long enough you will met someone who can hear a song once and play it. I’ve met them and was both impressed by their ability and disgusted at my total lack of it. These guys are mimics. They have great ears that let them easily play what they hear others doing. These guys are the ultimate “cover” band players. Unfortunately, they often spend all their time playing other people’ s music and never develop anything original. Now don’t get me wrong. I think playing in a cover band is good, honest work — if you can get it. Playing the music you like is a blast. But I think every player should also strive for something creative, something original.
Keep Trying
When I was younger, I wanted to play like my heroes but I was terrible at copying others and learning songs from records. So I figured, if I couldn’t play like the players I admired, I would try to develop my own style of playing. I also started writing music to fit the way I played. Naturally my first attempts at songwriting were less than stelar. However, just like playing guitar, the longer I did it the better I got. The funny thing is, as I got better at creating my own music, I also got better at copying others. Maybe I was a late bloomer or maybe I just had to go about things a different way. The point is, we’re all individuals. And while it is possible to mimic other players, the ultimate goal should be to find your own voice on the guitar. Who knows, maybe someday kids will be trying to copy you!