yammyfan
Senior Member
I'm curious to hear what everyone thinks of this.
While there is no doubt that I (like most of us) have gotten better over the years, I negate the joy in that to some degree by choosing to cover more and more difficult material. I may be demonstrably better than I was last year but I just feel a never-ending sense of challenge as I try to master progressively more difficult material. In this case, the measurement is external to me as determined by the original drummer. It's a binary thing; either I played the parts note for note or I did not.
In my case the goal is to play the original parts faithfully. I would be off the hook instantly if this wasn't the case but that's my deal, even if it isn't always possible.
By way of contrast, the above is never an issue when I compose original parts. I always play them right and I'm not better or worse than the original composer because it's me. The competition is strictly internal.
In some sense, the greats escape the comparison. We'll never know if Tommy Aldridge would be humbled trying to cover Steve Gadd because that just doesn't happen on a regular basis. Can Keith Carlock do a convincing John Bonham? We may never know.
I'm mindful of what happened to Neil Peart when he attempted to play jazz on the Buddy Rich tributes. The knives came out in a hurry.
The greats stay in their lane and determine their own reputations. Sure, they get compared to one another but it's generally a subjective comparison and not really objective. More opinion than fact, in other words.
I wonder if I am missing out on some joy by not working on original music more. My only competition would be myself so there's some relief in that but more importantly, my own style would develop if I worked on originals. Right now that isn't really happening.
Kind of a rambling post I know but I'm sure you get my drift. Maybe those of you who left cover bands behind to work exclusively on originals can comment. Did your style flourish and did you feel happier because of it?
While there is no doubt that I (like most of us) have gotten better over the years, I negate the joy in that to some degree by choosing to cover more and more difficult material. I may be demonstrably better than I was last year but I just feel a never-ending sense of challenge as I try to master progressively more difficult material. In this case, the measurement is external to me as determined by the original drummer. It's a binary thing; either I played the parts note for note or I did not.
In my case the goal is to play the original parts faithfully. I would be off the hook instantly if this wasn't the case but that's my deal, even if it isn't always possible.
By way of contrast, the above is never an issue when I compose original parts. I always play them right and I'm not better or worse than the original composer because it's me. The competition is strictly internal.
In some sense, the greats escape the comparison. We'll never know if Tommy Aldridge would be humbled trying to cover Steve Gadd because that just doesn't happen on a regular basis. Can Keith Carlock do a convincing John Bonham? We may never know.
I'm mindful of what happened to Neil Peart when he attempted to play jazz on the Buddy Rich tributes. The knives came out in a hurry.
The greats stay in their lane and determine their own reputations. Sure, they get compared to one another but it's generally a subjective comparison and not really objective. More opinion than fact, in other words.
I wonder if I am missing out on some joy by not working on original music more. My only competition would be myself so there's some relief in that but more importantly, my own style would develop if I worked on originals. Right now that isn't really happening.
Kind of a rambling post I know but I'm sure you get my drift. Maybe those of you who left cover bands behind to work exclusively on originals can comment. Did your style flourish and did you feel happier because of it?
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