The last band I was in had a 3 piece horn section where 2 of them played so badly out of tune that they brought me in to double (cover up) the horn section parts. The trombone player, gainfully employed in another field, was the ultimate in the music hobbyist category. He knew enough to do charts, and he was able to copy the trombone parts as far as what notes to play, but basically he didn't know HOW to play them. He didn't practice much, and when he did, he didn't know HOW to practice a trombone. You need to play LONG tones to learn how to play in tune, not just play along with CDs.

So in one song there was some space to fill, and I suggested (just to put him on front street) that he get an 8 bar solo. He was SO POOR in any kind of improv that he COULD NOT WRITE AN 8 BAR SOLO! Any viable musician would have been mortified to play the solo he played at the first rehearsal. I ended up writing a solo for him, quite basic, and he couldn't play that.

And that's your copy band player who doesn't know anything about music right there. Completely unable to think on his own, and so poor at technique that the band had to hire me to cover him (and the similarly intonation challenged trumpet player) up. The last 3 gigs we played, his mic was in the monitors only so he thought he was playing but his horrible intonation didn't go through the front of house system. I left that band a couple of years ago, and they finally ended up firing that guy. They only played twice a year since then so I didn't lose anything.

Study.
Learn.
Practice correctly.
DON'T rely on music writing software like PG to replace the learning process. Us "old skool" guys have dedicated our entire life to this craft, and to speak only for myself, I find it offensive that people want to sneak into the circus under the tent rather than buy a ticket.

Remember, if I sing along with a Sinatra record, with Old Blue Eyes in my ears I sound great. Without said "Blue Eyes" singing with me I sound like a foghorn. Practice YOU, not you with a CD.

Years ago, when the Yamaha SY-77 came out, I was in college for the second time to get my computer science degree, so I was just into my 40s, and still playing. To fill my course load I took a bunch of music classes, one of which was composition. Some 19-ish year old brought in a piece of music that he claimed to have written. What he did was record the demo track from his keyboard. When he finished playing a tape of "his" song, and the class applauded, I could not stop myself from busting him. The prof asked "Does anyone in the class have any feedback they would like to offer?" I raised my hand and said "I have one comment to make." I got the go ahead and said "Has anybody here every heard of a keyboard called a SY-77? It's made by Yamaha, and what he just played, and said he wrote, is the demo song from that keyboard. I also own that keyboard and know that demo song well."

The prof called him into his office after class and threatened to throw him out of the class for pulling that stunt. That could have all been avoided if he just tried to write something on his own. JUST to make a point, I took my Ensoniq ESQ-1, a drum machine, and the SY-77 to the next class meeting (along with my sax) and performed 3 songs I actually wrote, not plagiarized. Then that kid was MAD AT ME because he stole music and presented it as his own, and cursed me out in the classroom. He dropped the class that day rather than be ejected.

It's things like that attempt to claim ownership of a factory demo that make me wish PG would take out that song creating demo song thingy out. This is supposed to be a tool for songwriting, not a tool to do the work so the user doesn't have to. We get enough of that from users asking us how to practice. (The answer to that is to just practice and not look for shortcuts.)

Do your own work, folks.