I’ve heard plenty of arguments about the benefits and dangers of playing guitar in a cover band.
For some, the benefits far outweigh the dangers. If you do a great job of learning the parts in the original versions of a 25-song set, you’re going to school on 25 different guitar players. You’re learning how each guitarist approaches rhythm guitar and how they solo. In other words, you’re absorbing their vocabulary. You’re also figuring out how to get the sounds they use.
Other people argue that ‘all this time you invest in learning someone else’s music’ is time you’re NOT spending developing your own style and sound, and that you run the risk of never getting out of the ‘cover band world.’ That is something to consider.
So, I guess this is a personal choice, but I’ve always believed that walking in the footsteps of other guitar players is beneficial. So perhaps it’s a matter of balance.
A high percentage of what I learned about music, and playing guitar in my teens and 20s, was from all the guitar players whose parts I learned.
