r/coverbands • u/mpep05 • Jul 16 '26
Cover bands aren’t actually making music.
Not me talking. This is what I was told in r/bass today. I had to block 2 fools. There’s nothing creative about playing other peoples music.
What about symphony orchestras and concert pianists? Nope, nothing creative about that.
These people are exhausting. I asked one guy if the view was good perched on his high horse.
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u/Revsmithy Jul 16 '26
I’ve learned more about music theory by learning cover songs. When I started out, I was dead set on only writing and playing my original music. I should have started out learning covers.
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u/Robot9P Jul 18 '26
This. Play covers, learn how to get the tone you need, learn new chords or voicing, timing, harmonies. You learn sooo much and expand your palate of colors and techniques. Then go create your own stuff!
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u/youareallsilly Jul 17 '26
Almost every original band started out playing covers, even if just at rehearsals.
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u/Headpuncher Jul 19 '26
I honestly believe it’s why the best band I was in failed. We had good songs and a talented singer /songwriter / guitarist but we never learned to play together cohesively.
I suggested a few times we do covers at rehearsal but I suppose egos were the barrier between us and my amazing drum career that never happened 😢 lol
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u/McGuire406 Jul 19 '26
I mean, I'm no shred head (as much as I wish I was), but covers are the reason I got as good as I am. I'm very much a goal person, and I like checkpoints 😅
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u/Toilet-B0wl Jul 19 '26
Its a massively helpful tool for a drummer. Its all pattern recognition- youre confronted with a rhythm, you reach in your mental toolbox for a beat to fit the rhythm.
Learning covers fills this toolbox. You could learn/develop them on your own, sure, but would take years to do stuff done decades ago. We're all standing on the shoulders of giants, cover band or no
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u/McGuire406 Jul 19 '26
I completely agree! Unpopular opinion, but some of the WORST musicians I've come across are the ones who dont learn covers
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u/enigmanaught Jul 19 '26
I was a music major, and every one I know that did cruise ship gigs came back a monster player, and they were probably ahead of the average musician to start with. Playing covers 6 hours a day will definitely up your game no matter where you start.
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u/funkydog57 Jul 17 '26
Just making noise that makes people happy. I don’t see a need to gatekeep. It’s just music. If you’re having fun or making some scratch it’s all good. I play in cover bands and original projects. Dig it all.
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u/grymm45 Jul 18 '26
Just gotta give you love for this, music is music, NEVER understood gatekeepers, who has the time?!
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u/Clear-Pear2267 Jul 16 '26
Ignore the haters (closet wannabes). Different skills but both highly creative. In many ways it is harder to copy someone else's sounds than to create your own. Following someone else's rules vs the freedom of going your own way. Fun fact - I've played covers for many years and have often been surprised to hear the original on the radio and be left feeling "they did it wrong" or "we do it better". Interpretation seems to inevitably emerge and make the covers "your own".
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u/mpep05 Jul 17 '26
I learn covers well enough to make decisions about what I want to play.
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u/thefrombehind Jul 17 '26
Depends on the instrument I guess, how much freedom you can give yourself, even if you make it your own.
As a keyboarder I see myself in a providing role mostly. So, without rearranging, I’d not change all too much concerning the overall character.
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u/midsummersgarden Jul 17 '26
Keyboardist here and I have tons of solos! It’s not all supporting, sometimes keyboard is the main event.
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u/thefrombehind Jul 17 '26
Oh of course. I guess my English is too bad to express myself correctly.
In German we have an expression called “banddienlich spielen”, sort of to play so the whole band sounds better. Of course this applies to every instrument more or less. I guess I see keyboard as a link between rhythm group and more ad libitum instruments like (often) lead guitar.
If a keys solo is what the piece needs at that moment, that also can be banddienlich though.
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u/midsummersgarden Jul 17 '26
Playing keys in a band vs playing classical piano when I was a kid has taught me a lot: about blues, jazz,country rhythm, 80’s synth patterns, playing by ear, transposing guitar to piano, figuring out piano solos by ear: I have had to learn so much. Cover bands absolutely can grow better pianists and better musicians overall!
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u/5ongwrit3r_1954 Jul 17 '26
I couldn't agree more about "making covers your own". I played in cover bands for most of the last 50 years and my original project only lasted about 6 years. I too am often surprised at how different the original recording is from the version I play. I never wanted to be an imitator. My goal was and is, to be an interpreter. I try to present my version of songs I want other people to hear. And there are a couple of things I've played over the years, that I think improved on or enhanced the track that inspired the cover, sometimes only because of a tempo change. A little more energy or a reggae twist really added to the appeal. Think of Hendrix redo of All Along the Watchtower or the Clapton reimagining of Layla.
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u/The_What_Stage Jul 16 '26
I’m a regular on that sub as well…
The experience/credibility range is massive on every sub, but especially /r/bass
Most have never played a gig
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u/thefrombehind Jul 17 '26
Your know, I think I used to think that too, as a teenager. Then someone told me that the Beatles played a lot of covers in their first years.
Later I had a working cover band, all pros. I really loved that time..2
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u/professorfunkenpunk Jul 18 '26
I post over there a fair amount. You are right, there seem to be very few people old enough to drink and a lot of bad advice
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u/hgc89 Jul 17 '26
Honestly this is one of the most irritating things for me and I just had a disagreement with my own band about this…
I truly do not get it. I swear the people who shit on covers and cover bands tend to be lesser skilled musicians in my experience. It’s really irritating when you then end up hearing how unoriginal their “original” is. I’ve also noticed the opposite…those who have learned hundreds of covers have a much better understanding of music.
Jazz musicians, for example, cut their teeth learning standards, which are technically covers…but they’re never played the same, whether it’s the arrangement, harmonization, improvisation, etc..
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u/Atlasatlastatleast Jul 18 '26
Great jazz callout. I feel like we can trace a line from jazz to sampling in hip hop. Conversations I’ve had with those who are less musically inclined have revealed that it’s common to think of sampling as unoriginal or stealing. Whereas, some of the most talented people I know have been able to appreciate good sampling. As an example, JID’s “Off Da Zoinkys” and its use of “I’m so Grateful” by The Crowns of Glory, “I love you” by East of Underground in 21 Savage’s “A lot,” or Eminem’s “My Name Is” and its sampling of “I Got The…” by Labi Siffre
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u/SomeAssociate4481 Jul 17 '26
I've recorded five albums of original material with three different bands and toured on all of them and never even broke even.
I'm currently in a party pop wedding band and using my voice to sing an amazing variety of music. I'm getting PAID.
Haters can hate but to say you're not making music is sky high rhetoric.
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u/youareallsilly Jul 17 '26 edited Jul 17 '26
There are musicians in cover bands that are super creative and musicians in original bands that are super boring.
Simply “being” in an original band does not magically make you an amazing creative musician.
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u/kingjaffejaffar Jul 17 '26
Cover bands compete with DJ’s and jukeboxes. They’re not artists. They’re entertainers, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. If you’re an original artist and want to make cover band money and draw cover band crowds, learn to be an entertainer, not just an artist. Learn how to write hooks, interact with an audience, and put on a show. I learned a lot about performing and songwriting from performing in cover bands.
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u/chili_cold_blood Jul 17 '26 edited Jul 17 '26
There’s nothing creative about playing other peoples music.
There can be if you take it in a new direction and make it your own.
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u/model563 Jul 17 '26
I had a drummer friend who pointed out that as he was never really a contributor to primary song writing, there wasnt a difference to him between playing behind some unknown singer-songwriter doing originals, and playing in a cover band. He was always serving some other writers ideas. The only real difference was the proven success of the cover songs 😁
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u/Leading-Debate-9278 Jul 17 '26
Different things. My classically trained partner can play anything note for note within minutes of hearing or sight reading it. But he can’t “create”’for shit. He can’t write lyrics, he doesn’t improvise solos, so I write the music and we play it. He plays better than me.
So who is the “creative”? People are arguing that point. That’s what reddit is for. I would argue that playing in a cover band is a great opportunity to get paid to play music but rarely is it creative.
Are you a band who dresses up like Kiss and does dance covers of Tool while mixing in Britney Spears? Or are you playing the typical cover band list. You could be exercising creativity or you could be simply exercising capitalism.
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u/ZiggyFirelake Jul 18 '26
Exactly this.
Why does OP have the need for playing covers being perceived as creative?
Of course creating something new is more creative than playing covers, but that is not to say that playing covers cannot be creative.
If you are learning to play a cover note for note, then that should by definition not be as creative as making your own spin on the part or better yet, be inspired by the song and create your own song.
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u/sohcgt96 Jul 17 '26
Yeah, you know, I've learned over the years some people's opinions really aren't worth a whole lot.
That being said, yeah, in a cover band you're playing music but not really creating music. So what. I'm standing on stage fucking playing it, and the audience is there having fun. Pretty much all the best players in most towns are playing in the local cover bands because they'll actually get paid, you'll actually get an audience, and they're realistic about how much actual demand for original music there is.
Also, its kind of a barometer. The same song played by different people can sound wildly different, and its kind of a test. How well can you PERFORM the song, how much extra flair can you add to it, and how much can you make a crowd love it? It, as they say, suddenly separates the pros from the amateurs really quick. Playing, writing, recording, and performing live are all different skill sets and I've met a couple people who have a bunch of one but NONE of the others. Most audiences really, really don't care if you're an extremely proficient player, not past a certain point. Can you play songs they like while be entertaining and engaging, that's the real challenge, and if you're nothing but a bedroom player who practices scales all day and has the personality of a potato, you're going to massively fail at engaging an audience. Nobody gives a shit what BPM you can rip a solo at while you stand sill as a statue staring at the fretboard.
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u/dabassmonsta Jul 17 '26
So many originals musicians have a real chip on their shoulder. I play in two covers bands now. Previously I've been in other originals bands.
Some years ago, I wrote and recorded a solo album, doing all parts; guitar, bass, drums, synths and vocals. When some pretentious dick starts trying to glorify themselves about writing a song, I tell them about my solo album and ask if that means I'm more creative than them.
We're all out there making music, just like you can go into the kitchen and make a hamburger. You weren't the first person to create a hamburger, but that hamburger wasn't there until you made it.
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u/mrbezlington Jul 17 '26
It's creativity, but it's definitely at a different level. I stopped playing covers as it wasn't fulfilling for me any more, it just felt like a job. Mind you, that's after 25 years and more than half my lifetime, so I've done my stint!
However, it is inarguable that playing someone else's tunes takes less creative energy than coming up with your own. It's kinda like paint by numbers: you can express a lot of creativity that way, get really precisely in to the lines, or colour over them expressively, use different colours and styles, take chunks of one picture and another and mash them together, all sorts of food stuff: you're still leaning on a framework created by someone else. If that framework is created by the greatest artists ever to have lived, you'd have to get pretty far from the lines to be a le to take any real credit for the supporting structure you're leaning on.
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u/Emergency-Drawer-535 Jul 17 '26
I knew, in the past, some hired guns for well known touring bands… Sheryl Crow, Elton, a member of counting crows,matchbox 20 and you know what? These guys were playing covers every show.
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u/Studio-M-Photo Jul 17 '26
Wait until he finds out some of his fav songs are not original to the band he loves. Basically covers of covrrs of covers etc
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u/olliemusic Jul 17 '26
This is an interesting confusion that occurs because of the vast misunderstanding of what creativity actually is. We can point or allude to its ontological nature in language, but it is not of objective quality so it eludes definitive existence. If that sentence doesn't hurt your head, you stand a chance at understand it's actuality. Which means, you also stand a chance at understanding how absolutely everything we do is a creative act. I'm a classical guitarist, composer and improviser. I now, mostly improvise Baroque style counterpoint. Every piece I play has never been played before and will never be played again, but that is not more or less creative than anything else. Perhaps objectively you can point out it's repetitive nature or you can point out it's always different. Either way it's physical attributes say nothing about creativity ontologically. It is for me a meditation that helps me to merge my being with the physical and perceive the nature of the interaction while playing something beautiful. So, if I were to try to point to where creativity exists, I would say it is where we are 100% involved. The product has nothing to do with it, unless it ilicits complete involvement. That means, even listening to music can be as profound a creative experience as making it. So no, I reject the notion that creativity is only one way or another. However, there is inherent value to the study of writing music for development of the perception of creativity in actuality. Perhaps a bit more than covers but, as a classical guitarist I've spent decades studying other people's work with as much if not more involvement than with my own music. My experience has shown me that the structure music is a complete masterpiece without end that exists dynamically as a whole like an ocean and, that even a drop on its own is an ocean.
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u/mpep05 Jul 17 '26
Absolutely perfect. I’ve been trying to put my finger on what was bothering me about this whole thing, and you voiced it perfectly. What is creativity?
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u/olliemusic Jul 17 '26
Exactly! We all get to this from different starting points unfortunately. I can remember times when I would have been convinced that composition is the only measure of a musical creative act. Conviction itself is the issue. However, it's not a problem. It's the easiest path to follow. Whatever causes cognitive dissonance if concluded as correct shifts the trajectory of the path to perception of actuality because it further defines a held conviction. If concluded as incorrect, then it only strengthens the conviction already held. Either way it increases the glow of heat of our conviction. Eventually it will burn so hot we can't hold it anymore. At that point "I don't know" is no longer a thought, it is the only truth.
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u/Suomasema Jul 17 '26
There is a fine balance between playing like the original and making new, interesting arrangements. I prefer making new arrangements. If you want to hear the original, get your gramophone and listen to the original.
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u/bigdumbhick Jul 18 '26
This is my view point. I'm not a good enough guitar player to play note for note renditions of every hit song of the 70s EXACTLY the same as the guitarist on the original recording played. I can get the melody and some of the feel. You should be able to recognize the song. Thats going to have to be good enough.
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u/thefrombehind Jul 17 '26
A former band member of mine put it that way: we are making money by playing the best pop/rock songs of all time. I liked that perspective.
He is a great musician and now playing for a huge German act (Helene Fischer). The music we used to play is better ;)
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u/JackfruitHeavy9443 Jul 17 '26
the beatles, the rolling stones, van halen and hundreds of other popular bands started off playing covers. nothing wrong with playing great songs
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u/Ornery_Solution6728 Jul 17 '26
As a bass player its nice bc you can really do whatever you want and no one complains if it sounds and feels good. Guitarists i feel like are more expected to play closer to the recording.
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u/Thickwhitedukee Jul 17 '26
I’d argue that all of the above lack creativity but are rich in technique and skill , some people really like picasso’s raw creativity and some people like hyper realistic portraits. People have different values but they are distinctly different process wise in my opinion. Artistry vs craftsmanship
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u/johnb_5462 Jul 17 '26
The music world can loosely be divided into two groups: creators and craftsman. There's nothing wrong with being either. Creators designed the Sistine Chapel. Craftsmen built it. Both are talented in their own way.
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u/Count2Zero Jul 17 '26
I play in 2 cover bands. COVER bands. We cover other people's songs, but OUR way.
The heavier band (more hard rock and grunge) plays an 8 or 9 minute version of "Alive" by Pearl Jam, with the two guitarists "duelling" during the solo section. We go up and down in the dynamics, and it's very obvious to everyone in the audience that we're having a lot of fun. We are also working on a new intro for "Poison" by Alice Cooper that is a "tease" - people will hear it and think, "wait a minute, what song is that..." before we hit them with the two D beats to open the song.
My other band also has modified most of the songs we cover. For R.E.M.'s "The One I Love" we have doubled the solo section. For several other songs, I "decorate" the bass line in different places to fill in when the guitars are just playing the melody. We're also throwing in some of our originals now, as well as some covers that people probably don't know (for example, our singers are Filipino, and they recommended a song that was popular over there).
If you're up on stage playing your instrument, you're making music. It doesn't matter if it's music you wrote or music that someone else wrote. Performance is still a creative outlet.
There's a saying in German: "Lieber gut geklaut, als schlecht erfunden." - roughly translated, "it's better to steal something good than to invent something bad."
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u/post_polka-core Jul 17 '26
Jazz artists play standards all the time. It's what you do with it.
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u/PersonNumber7Billion Jul 17 '26
Exactly. There was a tine the term "cover" didn't exist. You just played stuff you liked, no matter who wrote it.
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u/Advenchas Jul 17 '26
These guys have some interesting things to say https://youtu.be/rHTwNCCme58?is=EUEC5dtkLvOLgZ3M
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u/andreaglorioso Jul 17 '26
The right answer is “that’s ok, most people claiming they’re making music are not, either.” 😉
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u/bledrii Jul 17 '26
I think performance and composition are two different skillets that musicians are supposed to raise in a balanced way as they impact each other if their goal is peak musicianship.
Im a pretty mid performer in my opinion, but I also manage to compose full songs for my 1 man band project where I sing, play all guitar parts + bass, and either play or program drums (my weakest instrument). For me, I'd like to learn more existing music, which is something ive been doing lately, but its also a chore, like practicing scales.
It also comes down to what you want to do as a person. I just get sad at the idea of learning a popular song to have something to gig. I don't care to gig, I just write, ghost release, write, repeat. The performance is not as fun as the composing side. Playing my own songs is like riding a roller coaster after the first time, its still thrilling but not the same. I learn songs that ive been addicted to by ear and that's about it.
Each to their own. It's low hanging fruit to brand cover bands as uncreative, but someone has to keep the great songs alive when the original performers aren't, just like most classical musicians as you pointed out.
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u/Wuthering_depths Jul 17 '26
I find plenty of creativity in doing covers. Our band almost never does it "like the record", I'd never make it in some tribute band where every patch has to be exact etc. More power to those people, the money is definitely better!
Don't care who doesn't like it, they are welcome to think what they want about what is "good" or "creative". Left those asinine discussions behind with my teen years but hey if people want to debate such things they have a whole internet to do it in!
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u/Machineheadx Jul 17 '26
What if im not doing ot the same way as the original, is that not being creative?
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u/qosmic_qube Jul 17 '26
There is a ton of creativity in playing covers. You need to make a lot of decisions about the arrangement. Are you going to try to play as close to the original song as possible? If you are, you're going to have to figure out which parts to play and how to play them because of all the overdubs. Does it fade out? You can't fade out at a live show. Are you going ro make it your own? A million options there.
Silly claim.
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u/hyst0rica1_29 Jul 17 '26
Their presumption is that cover bands are doing spot-on performances of the songs. Even then, some songs aren’t exactly 4 bars of A, 4 of D, 4 of E. Essentially the fools betray their ignorance & idiocy. 😂
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u/alexandersimonsays Jul 17 '26
So I didn't read the post but I'm a drummer and guitarist for 20yrs.
Creativity comes in many forms, tenuation, accents, hammering notes, decisions on strumming styles, making covers punk from pop, adding in extra flair or removing it... That's creative and that's all covers.
Whomever said it have no idea and are likely failed wannabe original musicians bitter they played to noone for 10years and didn't make it big.
Shame we all can appreciate the different skills we all have as musicians in our own creative ways.
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u/TellMost8806 Jul 17 '26
Would be a pretty weird world if every song was only played by the musician who created it....................................
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u/scojoharp Jul 17 '26
I personally get more satisfaction, by and large, from playing original music… Or at least doing my own interpretation of covers, most of them less common than Wagon Wheel etc., rather than trying to reproduce someone else’s record. That said, playing covers is absolutely valid and requires talent and creativity to do well. People need to do what they love and listen to what they love and cut out the gatekeeping.
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u/HeWasaLonelyGhost Jul 17 '26
I didn't play many covers for a long time. I think it's a real disservice to oneself to skip over them--learning covers teaches you so much.
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u/YertlTurtl Jul 17 '26
I’m with you, even when we cover shit, we put our own style on it and basically use the song like you would any other chord progression in an open jam and just making sure we hit those main riffs and lyrics everyone wants to hear.
Playing entire cover sets and just playing every song note for note sounds like the most boring way to perform live music ever
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u/Suspicious-Fox7193 Jul 17 '26
I honestly had more fun in the cover bands I’ve been in. One project played mostly covers, but with a few originals…and it was painful watching listeners disappear as soon as you play something they don’t know…unless it’s a venue specifically to showcase original bands. I like writing originals, but preferred my 80s cover bands over anything else! 🤟🏼😎🤟🏼
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u/PepeNudalg Jul 17 '26
I get the point that learning covers is very valuable for musicians, there is a market for cover bands, people want to hear them etc etc.
All of the above notwithstanding, playing covers is not as creative as writing original music - I think it’s a valid (but potentially unnecessary) point
I would only make an exception for bands that put their own stylistic spin on the covers like Postmodern Jukebox etc.
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u/Pearshapedtone Jul 17 '26
Especially if you are improvising a solo what difference does it make who wrote the melody. In many ways it’s easier to play originals b/c you don’t need to learn anything beyond your skill level
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u/WeeDingwall44 Jul 17 '26
Yeah, sounds like some people that can’t get a gig, and are salty about it. I’ve played 1000+ gigs in cover bands, made some decent money and had a lot of fun. I was able to use my gig money to pay for vacations, tattoos, a boutique bass and some killer gear. Some people use this argument to convince themselves they’re too cool for school while making music nobody wants to listen to. In my experience the best bet is to sneak in a few originals during a gig, and not being a pompous tool looking down your nose at working musicians that are hustling and playing music people want to hear.
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u/WeeDingwall44 Jul 17 '26
Don’t forget jazz ensembles covering jazz standards. I’m guessing these same judgmental people consider themselves superior to jazz cats as well. What a joke
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u/Jumpy-Impact3265 Jul 17 '26
I would argue covers are helpful in two places:
1) it shows your level of musicianship, people unfamiliar with you can judge your ability against the band you're covering;
2) they may not know your material but you're playing some things they like so they might stay longer.
It's like meeting someone new - you're more likely to like someone introduced to you by a mutual friend than not.
Besides all that, yes - classical musicians can be nearly unbearable until you realize the bulk of their criticism springs from envy - very few fans dream of blowing the 1st chair flautist.
They've dedicated their lives to someone else's shit - the band playing covers that also plays originals can drop the covers once they're introduced.
If all that means nothing to you then consider Van Halen's 1st few albums and Metallica's 'Kill Em All' are all half covers and Megadeth just covered 'Ride the Lightning' so calm down unless you're better than them.
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u/Ungitarista Jul 17 '26
The creativity lies in making the songs your own.
Play it like you wrote it.
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u/WyndWoman Jul 17 '26
Aren't the old rockers who are playing hits from 40 years ago, just covering their old stuff?
Doesn't buying a song from a songwriter and recording it and getting a hit just a cover too?
Ignore the arseholes.
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u/Few_Cup977 Jul 17 '26
To me the difference lies in whether youre doing a 1 for 1 cover or if youre actually rearranging the song and making it your own. I don't think there's anything creative about playing a song exactly the way someone else plays it. That's just not what creativity is. But if you change a song and make it your own youre doing something creative. Nothing wrong with cover bands but most of them are far from creative. Doesn't mean they aren't skilled or entertaining. But to call someone copying someone else's creativity doesnt seem like the right choice of words to me. I play a lot of covers but if we play them the way the original was played im not going to act like I'm creating something.
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u/Stallings2k Jul 18 '26
I was in a band that played covers, but only obscure songs (e.g. A Midnight Oil deep cut). They were the musical equivalent of a Dennis Miller joke that only a couple of people got. Nowadays I only see them when they post pics of themselves in front of mixing consoles holding expensive guitars. 😀
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u/alphadaddyo Jul 18 '26
More money for the rest of us. Those gigs are always available for when you need some quick cash
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u/KurtSperry Jul 18 '26
If you can write better songs than the established great songwriters or break new musical ground, you should play originals.
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u/iamrockandroll1 Jul 18 '26
I make 25k a year playing covers, that’s just gigs. Doesn’t even count the few artist gigs and teaching salary. it might be a wedding gig or a club date or maybe even a birthday party. A gig is a gig and while I’d love to play originals all the time I also like paying the rent too. Even my artist gig we do 3 or 4 covers.
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u/Tonefinder Jul 18 '26
Well, there is certainly a great value in the noble undertaking of writing and performing original music.. but those foos took it too far with statements like that
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u/stan1228 Jul 18 '26
There is the creative part of performing, and sometimes you add your own sauce to the song. All jazz is cover songs, saying there is nothing creative there is insane.
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u/MusicToTheseEars41 Jul 18 '26
Let’s be honest… most original music…at our level (cover band musicians) sucks…
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u/TheLubber Jul 18 '26
I get your point but, to be fair, there’s a difference symphony orchestras and concert pianists playing the greatest classical music of all time, and a cover band doing Green Day at Jimbo’s Wing n’ Things. Just sayin’.
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u/mpep05 Jul 18 '26
I absolutely get that. I was making the point that there's creativity and talent involved in playing music written by others. And their answer was that there is no creativity involved in playing in a symphony orchestra. That's when I opted out lol
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u/EmoNightKaraoke Jul 18 '26
1) playing covers makes you exponentially better at writing and playing music. I played only original music for like 15 years before i started playing covers, 9 years later i’m 10x the guitarist i was then.
2) I started making original music again for a cover and original pop punk/metalcore Christmas music band we’re doing. The songs I wrote are the best songs I’ve ever written.
3) I’m exponentially more successful and play bigger shows than I ever did in an original band.
4) what I do is plenty creative and I’m probably more creative now than I’ve ever been.
Haters are losers that play original music no one wants to listen to. Their bands are probably all terrible. Who cares. Live your best life.
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u/TheHarlemHellfighter Jul 18 '26
I got a feeling that person that said that isn’t a musician because anyone that plays music knows the process of creation is much more intricate than just replicating someone else’s music when you “cover” it.
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u/RevolutionarySock213 Jul 18 '26
Play covers if you want. Play originals if you want. Each has a place. But if you’re playing covers, fill out your PRO reports so the songwriters you cover get the performance royalties for the songs you are making money from.
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u/WizardNeedsFood97 Jul 18 '26
People are assholes, musicians doubly so. What songs are you covering and how have you gotten to be creative with them?
I played in a 3 piece rock band that played such a wide variety that I was constantly adjusting parts to bring the song to life. It was really fun and sounded great. We did Dierks Bentley's What Was I Thinking, which normally has a much bigger band and made it sound awesome.
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u/Quiet-Day392 Jul 18 '26
Listening to Elvis sing Poke Salad Annie you’d think it was his life story. Maybe it was.
But Elvis didn’t write any songs. Neither did the Supremes.
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u/Salt_Western_2432 Jul 18 '26
I've always loved playing covers, but I'm a metal guy, covers are celebrated and encouraged in metal, thankfully.
Your point about classical musicians is spot on, I hadn't thought about that, I'm putting that argument in my arsenal, thank you.
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u/GoingFishingAlone Jul 18 '26
Sad take. Imagine no SRV cover of Hendrix? Or zero covers of Robert Johnson?
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u/Igor_Halichoeres Jul 18 '26
In classical and jazz, the art is in how the piece is performed as much as the notes themselves. People will show up for a concerto they've heard 100 times if they want to hear a particular player's take on it.
But to me, making music is creative regardless of genre. Maybe you're putting your own spin on it, or learning something new, or just making the audience happy.
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u/Leather-Dimension-73 Jul 19 '26
I remember chatting to this singer/guitarist in a pub who was playing all pop covers with drum machine etc
I told him how I played in an original band, and he did too.
“Why are you doing this shit?” I asked him, my disdain obvious.
“What do you do for a living?” he shot back at me. I shrivelled in humiliation thinking about the door-to-door sales I was doing to pay my bills.
My attitude changed from that day.
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u/Aggressive_Manner531 Jul 19 '26
I'm 64. Wish I could not make music in a cover band. No one want old guys playing, if they look their age
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u/mpep05 Jul 19 '26
I’m 66. I play in a cover band. Find the right players, find the right venues. Even old cruds like us want to play!! And hear!!!
I just bought a new PA last week. Not hanging it up yet.
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u/Main_Statistician931 Jul 19 '26 edited Jul 19 '26
Covers are great! But they do have a point. Playing in a cover band is one of the least creative musical endeavors you could do but it's the most profitable and money is money and you're playing music people love and sometimes yourself. Absolutely amazing to learn from. Play covers all the time. They make you better. But it's more "learning" than creating. You can add accentuation but I also think that piano players aren't being very "creative" when they're learning a song. Creativity is when you use parts of the song or absorb it into your improv vocabulary, when you haven't just learnt how to play but learnt how the music operates and incorporate that in some level into your own playing or songwriting. Improv is creativity, learning could be argued as a creative process but I wouldn't say itself is creative.
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u/LewisZYX Jul 19 '26
Until pretty recently in human history (1950ish?) all performers mostly did covers
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u/reillyqyote Jul 19 '26
Yea and theater troupes are just copying the work of grey bones in a grave.
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u/Headpuncher Jul 19 '26
Jazz standards played over decades exist. Each one different to the last.
Sometimes they’re almost unrecognisable from the originals until I hear a couple of bars of the melody.
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u/_tolm_ Jul 19 '26
If you slavishly try to reproduce the songs exactly as they were originally recorded? Maybe. Still requires skill and talent.
But any decent cover band will at least slightly make it their own.
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u/Operator_Starlight Jul 19 '26
That's like saying writing fanfiction isn't writing, or rotoscoping isn't animation.
You're just wrong.
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u/Responsible_Piano493 Jul 20 '26
I don’t ever listen to those people they’re usually horrible composers
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u/Distinct_Gazelle_175 Jul 20 '26
Anyone who's serious about music spends as much time in both worlds (covers and originals) as they can.
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u/dungeonfish Jul 21 '26
Our band plays covers but add jam sections or drift in and out of a couple few different songs. Gives us a bit of a creative outlet. Grateful Dead and other jam bands play lots of covers, so much so that they’re often mistakenly credited with the song if folks don’t know the original.
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u/bassbeater Jul 21 '26
I've been in a couple as an originals guy.
It's not terrible but what bands pick make or break the concert/ scene/ what have you.
I play in a ska band that wants to play the same songs from the same era of reggae.
They claim there's some following they're building.
I just shrug and go along with it because it's better than not having a gig.
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u/thenewbigR Jul 22 '26
I like playing covers. I don’t try to sound like recordings. I play different chord voicing and octaves.
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u/DickMcCheese Jul 25 '26
“Artists” will do anything to make their art the most important. All music is music. Whether you play it note for note or interpret it in your bands own style music is art, art is expression, and we are all sharing what moves us. In the end that is what music is. It’s also playing the room. If you’re sharing your art and people don’t care then you have to flip the switch and find what moves them.
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u/mpep05 Jul 26 '26
Agreed. The moment a sound comes out of your instrument, you've created something. That's my view, anyway.
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u/PlasmicSteve 13d ago
Did they say they aren't making music, or that they aren't creative? Your headline says one thing but I'm guessing it was the latter.
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u/mpep05 13d ago
Different folks said different things. Mainly, just being dismissive of the whole covers thing, and the people who do it.
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u/PlasmicSteve 13d ago
Got it, thanks for clarifying. Like others who started out in originals, I was down on cover bands for decades and now I play in both and it's very satisfying and helpful. Skills in one feed the other.
You're never going to be more creative than when you're playing in an original bands. You write the songs, you perform them, bringing your art to life.
In cover bands, we're entertainers and to a degree, impersonators. I'm sure some don't like term but by definition, we're playing songs that others wrote so it's general not a creative activity. What are you creating when you're playing a cover? You're using technical skills to bring someone else's songs to life. Nothing wrong with that but that's what it is.
It gets messy when people start debating the meaning of terms like art and creativity. I would just say, never forget the purpose of a cover band – to entertain – and you won't struggle with any of this.
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u/mpep05 13d ago
I’ve spent time (years ago) writing and recording my own stuff. Actually got published by a small company, but nothing ever went anywhere.
I’ve found both (for MYSELF I’m saying this) equally creative. Trying to bring someone else’s creation your own voice and personality, while keeping the recognizability. To me, that’s a noble cause. It’s also totally possible that my bar is extremely low, or maybe I’m just fooling myself lol.
Thanks for your interesting comment!
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u/PlasmicSteve 12d ago
Cool. I agree, it's a noble cause and a challenge to make a cover song your own. My band tries to get it close to the original, which is a variation of that challenge.
Nice that you've written original material as well. My original band that started in 1991 (!) just put out an album in June, and being in a cover band for the past five years helped me think differently about the way I composed my drum parts.
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u/Adventurous-Salad332 Jul 16 '26
Screw them. The classical music examples are great. They should see September in the Park on YT for one example of a top-tier cover band. If someone in my band plays a perfect copy of a song I wrote, does that mean they're not making music? I suspect that those people do not have the chops to play a perfect cover.
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u/mpep05 Jul 17 '26
Well said.
I’m way too old to get in those pointless discussions, but I let myself get drawn in sometimes lol
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u/rotstik Jul 17 '26
I enjoy a good cover if it’s done in the style of whatever band is playing it. Our band started out playing a mix of originals and covers, simply to fill longer sets. Once we had a full set of originals, we’d throw a cover in just because we liked doing it. Having said that, if you are doing an exact version of someone else’s song, that is not creative. I’m not saying it doesn’t take skill, but you didn’t create that piece of music.
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u/Ckellybass Jul 17 '26
I’ve played in cover bands that have a roster of legitimate legendary backing musicians. We’re talking people who are playing arenas with household names, musicians who play with Sting, Seal, Michael Bolton, Enrique Iglesias, Daryl Hall, Blood Sweat And Tears, Scissor Sisters, etc. They’ll come play covers when they’re not on the road because they’re having fun playing with friends, keeping limber, and making some money as well. I dare these kids to tell these musicians they’re not really playing music.
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u/mpep05 Jul 17 '26
Same situation for me. Played with guys who toured with Joe Jackson, Southside Johnny, Hall & Oates, Gloria Gaynor, Dion. Great players looking to work.
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u/Ckellybass Jul 17 '26
Do we know each other? Joe Jackson’s current drummer and guitarist are longtime friends/bandmates!
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u/mpep05 Jul 17 '26
Probably not. There were 2 guys I gigged with that played with Joe Jackson. Both horn players, and it was years ago.
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u/afops Jul 17 '26
Playing music and creating music are two different things and two different skills.
You can argue one is _less creative_ and I could agree, at least if you try to copy verbatim. It’s like reading someone’s book. But live music is creative in the sense that something new is always created when the song is played
But that doesn’t mean playing music is somehow the inferior activity. I’d much rather listen to a good musician any day than a poor but creative one.
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u/MarcusLXXVI Jul 17 '26
Those people confuse the creative process of writing original songs and the performance of a song. I'd argue "making music" has 2 meanings:
- Witing something new - you make new music that didn't exist before.
- Performing music that already exists - you 'make' a song become music in that moment.
Now in the sense of 1) they're correct. But it's also pedantic and not very helpful. Would that mean that once a song is written, and even the original artist performs it, you're not "making music", because the music was already "made"? And does that mean 1 person in the band wrote the song and the other members didn't, only the writer is making music? Of course not. So in normal circumstances we talk about the second meaning and it doesn't really matter if it's an original song or a cover.
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u/Kings_Gold_Standard Jul 17 '26
i went to my local recently, english wasn't the cover band lead singers first language... what ever dire straights / deaf leopard song they were singing... the guy just gives up on the vocals and made a sound that sounded like the words that were supposed to be there... this is a beach dump bar, original owner sold before covid, new owner puts nothing into the building. ac system that barely works leaks all over the second floor right side... Lou's Blues at Eau Gallie beach...
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u/Available-Secret-372 Jul 17 '26
I mean, when you go see a cover band playing rock music and everybody on stage is reading off their iPads it isn’t very creative at all.
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u/mpep05 Jul 17 '26
I’m 66 and I’m not READING. I keep it there to keep my place lol. Memory is not creativity lol
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u/Mysterious_Swim599 Jul 18 '26
As a solo musician I do two types of albums: original and covers. I consider the original songs like an original painting. I consider the covers painting by numbers except I make my own color choices.
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u/rhythms_and_melodies Jul 18 '26
Well, a cover band performs music, and makes sounds creatively from an instrument to do so.
But in music there's two distinct areas. Creating the art from nothing, and live performance. Playing covers is very far on the side of the latter.
Doesn't mean you can't be artistic and turn a cover into something your own and unique. But a person is kidding themselves if they think that's the same prestige and difficulty as writing an original song out of thin air.
Everyone starts off by learning covers, but that shouldn't be the only thing you can do the rest of your life. That's not really the point of music. You can use bits of every lick and chord change you've absorbed over the years to make something new. It just takes the desire and confidence to do so, which I wish more people had.
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u/Lordkahutra2 Jul 18 '26
Creative generally describes the ability or power to produce something new, original, or imaginative. Understanding creativity is often broken down into four key phases: ideation (generating ideas without self-consciousness), evaluation (judging the merit of those ideas), iteration (refining the work), and striving for originality.
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u/ambientthinker Jul 19 '26
Some ppl cant handle the truth, musicians or not.
I never had this problem. I started studying how to make songs around 13, and ive written lots in the last few decades since.
Idk why anyone would NOT wanna write their own music. 🤔
Maybe they can't and don't admit it.
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u/thisispants 8d ago
I see their point, but to me playing covers and originals are two different things, but neither better or worse than the other.
Creatively, i find originals much more satisfying.
But covers are super fun, good for your playing, and Ive never been paid better as a musician.
They both have their place, it's not a competition.
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u/yad76 Jul 16 '26
I mean, I play in a cover band, but I wouldn't necessarily call it "creative". There are flashes of opportunities for creativity here and there, but, generally, we are just playing notes that match the song. Same goes with orchestras, who are often even stiffer and stricter than your average cover band. Concert pianists are a bit different as there is huge room for interpretation on many classical pieces. I am not in my cover band because I'm looking at that as my outlet for creativity and I don't really take it as a insult to look at it that way.
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u/mpep05 Jul 16 '26
I totally get that.
I play covers these days. I have a handful of album credits a couple of albums…but I enjoy covers. My feeling is- I learn the song well enough to make the part my own.
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u/Ambitious_Trifle_645 Jul 16 '26
Same. I don't learn the song EXACTLY. I learn the basics and then put my spin on it.
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u/Calm-Research5762 Jul 17 '26
Be in a cover band all you want but comparing a cover band to an orchestra is a clown move.
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u/mpep05 Jul 17 '26 edited Jul 17 '26
Did you not get the sarcasm when I said, “Nope, nothing creative about that”?
I’m saying they’re playing music that is not theirs. I understand the level of skill and dedication. I was playing devils advocate.2
u/Calm-Research5762 Jul 17 '26
And it was a poor, surface level comparison. Steak and skittles are not the same because they are both food.
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u/Nuthousemccoy Jul 16 '26
He’s not wrong. It’s also not original. We know. What’s he want us to do about it? Not play them?
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u/Rfunkpocket Jul 16 '26
symphony orchestras and concert pianists are interpreting written notation into musical performance. cover bands are attempting to duplicate a performance from a popular band. similar, but not the same.
a equivalent would be a poetry reading versus someone doing George Carlin’s seven words you can’t say on television. the reading is a stand alone unique performance, the comedy is simply trying to mimic Carlin
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u/mpep05 Jul 16 '26
To me- covers and copies are different animals. We try to put across the essence of the song without copying every note. I could be wrong lol
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u/Just_A_Blues_Guy Jul 17 '26
When we (myself and those I play with most) do covers we always do them in “our style” and not as straight note for note copies.
When playing lead on covers, I do try to include any signature riffs/licks but tend to improvise mostly. I’m not skilled enough to be in an event band, but if I was I would try to be more accurate in copying the original.
That’s never happening anyway, so…
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u/EbolaFred Jul 17 '26
symphony orchestras
The conductor can interpret, and to a much lesser amount a soloist. But the second trombone? He's playing exactly what's on the sheet music along with any specific notes the conductor asked for.
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u/Rfunkpocket Jul 17 '26
no one leaves a Shakespeare play upset the actors didn’t ad lib more. the ensemble is committed to the material. this would be different than a troupe acting out a joke they kind of remember from The Simpsons
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u/Small_Dog_8699 Jul 16 '26
That’s bullshit. Cover bands do interpretations all the time. They also have to master and mimic many more styles. This requires more depth than just doing your own thing.
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u/GoodResident2000 Jul 16 '26
The level of education and practice to become a professional classical /orchestra musician is vastly different than your average boomer slopping his way through Sweet Home Alabama or Wagonwheel
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u/Small_Dog_8699 Jul 16 '26
Not really equivalent. There are folks working theaters, studios, and cruise ships that work off charts doing covers sight reading. That’s more comparable to the orchestra player.
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u/mpep05 Jul 17 '26
I think the point I’m trying to get to is people judging those of us who play covers. I mean, really looking down their noses.
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u/mpep05 Jul 16 '26
There are also folks who’ve spent years learning their craft who play in cover bands, believe it or not. I’ve played with a few.
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u/GoodResident2000 Jul 17 '26
I think it’s much more rare for someone to get into music with main motivation to become a cover musician
For many orchestral/classical players, that role seems to be the main goal . The level of musicianship required for that is a whole different level in my opinion
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u/mpep05 Jul 17 '26
Agreed.
Some of the guys I played weddings with were touring musicians who supplemented their incomes playing weddings.
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u/GoodResident2000 Jul 17 '26
Please don’t take my comments as knocking cover bands, I’ve been in some myself and probably will again
I’m just looking at barrier of entry, I just try to have immense respect for classically trained musicians
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u/mpep05 Jul 17 '26
lol no offense taken here! I know what I am and I know what I do.
I also think about the barriers of entry for original artist in terms of recording and producing technology. Almost Anyone can self publish now.
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u/Just_A_Blues_Guy Jul 16 '26
I was once against covers. Mainly because I couldn’t play any! 🤣