i fiddle about with guitar & bass -- i spent about 20 years playing piano so i'm pretty adept at playing by ear/figuring out simplified versions of/pisstaking other artists' songs.

mostly i just bash around on whatever's stuck in my head, which could be anything. i like figuring out deedly-deedly bits but i'm not proficient enough to play them well - still, it's a nice brainteaser even at 1/4 tempo.

oh you know... like a lot of "kids my age" I can play 95% of those first 5 or 6 Black Sabbath albums... didn't really mess with "Planet Caravan", "Changes", or any lead parts that were too fast (or overdubbed)...

made a decent dent in learning the first Iron Maiden and first Metallica albums...

played a shitload of AC/DC, but never went past "Who Made Who" - and didn't want to...

used to be OK with the majority of the DIDJITS 'Hey Judester' and 'Hornet Pinata'

still want to learn more off those first two Blue Öyster Cult albums...

more recently... sometimes I try to figure out a Shellac lick or two... finally satisfied with "Doris" after tuning down the E and A strings... not for any purpose, and definitely not to perform for anyone, but just really good riffage to grind on to pass some time - sounds good to ears and feels good to hands...

one time I was convinced that I had the Jesus Lizard's "Puss" down solid, but I'm pretty sure I was mistaken... still it was fun while it lasted

still come back to try Sabbath's "A National Acrobat" quite often...

would like to learn to play some Big Star songs better... like "Back Of A Car" and "September Gurls" (the obvious ones)

still would like to work up a satisfactory solo "Peaches En Regalia" (FZ) arrangement...

I know it seems like I'm stuck in the past... I do listen to plenty of newer music, but none of it really inspires me to pick up the guitar... don't know why that is... maybe because it's not guitar-centric music... oh - a few exceptions: the BellRays, and Brant Bjork and the Bros... they make me want to rawk (and also Shellac of course!)

oops... I sorta went off the thread... bah

guitar, 7.5 yrs: i can play "father of mine" by everclear. woohooo!!!! and also a cat power song which will remain nameless, a geoff farina song which will remain nameless, and at least a few green day jams because i have such good taste.

Black Flag - My War. Easily my main offender for obsessivly learning how to play other bands material. I know every bass line note for note and have played along with this record way too many times.

One day in boredom, I printed the tabs to every song on Pink Flag and started trying to get through it on guitar. I'd been playing for about six months.

I think I had maybe half of that album down before stopping.

After reading this thread, I think now that I want to learn the entire thing this time. I still know how to play "Three Girl Rhumba," "Ex Lion Tamer," "Surgeon's Girl," and "Strange" off the top of my head.

Drummer.

I can play all the Music Hates You songs... except the two new ones they wrote since I quit the band.

By a strange coincidence, I can also play 14 or so Psychedelic Furs songs.

Speaking of which, does anybody know how to play that doodly-diddly guitar part in "Then Comes Dudley"? It might be easier than I'm thinking but I'm convinced Duane is taking advantage of his classical training for that part. Which is why, of course, I can't figure it out.

Or maybe I just suck.

I started learning drums by looking up Nirvana tabs. I don't even remember what songs I learned (at 1/4th speed) whatless how to play them, but it did help with the basics.

Bass.

Knew most of Fun House, save for a lick here or there.

And I played a mean version of MC5's "Kick Out the Jams'" motherfucker.[/i]

As I suspect may hold true for many guitarists who were in their early teens in the early 90s, Nirvana was the main band whose songs I learned. The bassline to 'Lounge Act' was particularly fun to play.

After that, I got into more classic punk like the Dead Kennedys and Sex Pistols - the recognition value of their songs always made it satifying to learn them.

Then, around age 16, I got into Big Black and learned a fair number of their songs. And around 19, I started learning classic Wire, Gang of Four and Stranglers (mostly basslines for the latter two).

These days, though, I haven't been putting much effort into figuring out songs and just play my own semi-improvised shit.