Cover tunes often do not stay in key. What chords the writer used may not be quickly apparent.

I would have to have some idea about a song to "quickly" figure out the chord structure.

etcjoe is a monster guitar player and knows a zillion songs. So all that may be very easy for him.

For many of us who are less advanced and have a computer connected to the internet, there is a much easier way to find the chord structure of a cover song. Just google "chords and lyrics to" whatever song you want to play. Most of the time, you can find the tab also.

As an experiment, I picked a cover song at random from Taylor Swift called "You Need To Calm Down" https://youtu.be/Dkk9gvTmCXY

This is an example that happens often. There is no guitar, and there is no piano to listen to. So now you have to figure out the chords by the vocal and the synth. I usually don't listen to Taylor Swift, so I have never listened to that song. Perhaps for some folks, this would be easy to figure out. As it is only two chords it is not really that hard but....

Google...the results in 20 seconds.

[Verse 1]
D
You are somebody that I don't know
D
But you're takin' shots at me like it's Patrón
G G
And I'm just like "Damn, it's 7 a.m."
D
Say it in the street, that's a knock-out
D
But you say it in a tweet, that's a cop-out
G G
And I'm just like "Hey, are you okay?"


[Pre-Chorus 1]
D D
And I ain't tryna mess with your self-expression but I've learned the lesson
G
That stressin' and obsessin' 'bout somebody else is no fun
A N.C.
And snakes and stones never broke my bones

So...all this theory and studying like a madman seem somewhat pointless if it only will be put to use alone in a basement.

If, on the other hand, you want to play live with a band and they start playing a song you don't really know all that theory and hard work will give you the ability to play "something" that will sound good and blend in.

Billy

Last edited by Planobilly; 12/24/22 05:51 PM.
“Amazing! I’ll be working with Jaco Pastorius, Charlie Parker, Art Tatum, and Buddy Rich, and you’re telling me it’s not that great of a gig?
“Well…” Saint Peter, hesitated, “God’s got this girlfriend who thinks she can sing…”