Standing On The Shoulders of Giants: Ripping Off Your Favorite Artists

If I have seen further than others, it is by standing upon the shoulders of giants."
​— Isaac Newton

When it comes to creating original music, people are sometimes afraid of "ripping off" their favorite artists. They don’t want to sound like a carbon copy. This is a valid perspective, but I would argue that not only is it not bad to do, but I would actually encourage it!

Why It’s a Good Idea to Rip Off Your Favorite Artists
​Our favorite artists and bands are our favorites for a reason. They’ve succeeded in connecting with us on a level that others have not. They have an ability that we desire to have, too. We can study their music to figure out just how they accomplished this. While there are many intangible elements to making great music, don’t let that fool you into thinking that dissecting pieces of music won’t put you on the right path. More specifically, you can use your study of your favorite works to guide you along your own path.

Why You Shouldn’t Worry About Sounding Like a CopyEach of us has a perpetually growing catalog of musical experiences just by virtue of listening to music. We are always absorbing rhythms and melodies, consciously and unconsciously, whether that be passively listening to a playlist on the drive to work, or intentionally sitting down with an album and immersing ourselves in an artist’s world for an hour. These experiences, among others, create our own personal filter. Another word for filter might be taste. These are things we like and things we dislike. Often, we don’t know exactly why a piece of music resonates with us in the way that it does, but we feel it.
If you and I were to compose a passage based on the first riff in “Master of Puppets” by Metallica, each of us would come up with something different because we have different filters. I might like the chromatic nature of the riff, so I would incorporate that into my idea, while you might really resonate with the aggressive downpicking rhythm, so your riff would sound different. Maybe you think the last three notes of the riff are really special, while I think nothing of them! The point here is that each of us will zero in on what appeals to us and it will influence us in a unique way.
Now, you obviously can’t take an idea and just change a couple of notes and call it your own and expect to get away with it. You have to use your own discretion when it comes to your ideas sounding too much like the original. You can always ask a friend to listen to an idea and compare it to the source you were influenced by and have them gauge it. Eventually, you’ll develop a good sense for if an idea is too close. When this happens, all it means is that you need to add more of your own personality to it, and that’s a good thing!

Why You Should Listen to Many Styles of Music
​You never know where you will find inspiration. A groovy rhythm from a funk tune might inspire a syncopated metal riff. A lush voicing of a chord from a jazz tune might be turned into a badass sweep arpeggio. Borrowing from other styles is a great way to expand your genre of choice into new territory.
Sometimes, we get the impression that our favorite artists started out with their own unique style fully developed, but most of the time this is simply not the case. In fact, often times, if you can access an artist's early catalog or demos, you’ll find that they sound very close to their influences! Illinois hard rock trio Chevelle sounded very much like one of their main influences, Tool (same orchestration: one guitar/bass/drums/vocals), on their first album. While the influence of Tool remains in their music, it is mixed in with a sound that is unique to Chevelle. One of my favorite examples of Chevelle expanding on Tool’s sound is their song “Emotional Drought.” The pre-chorus (@ 1:08) of this song is quite reminiscent of Tool, but colored by Chevelle’s unique orchestration.

The idea of originality is quite complex. You can argue that nothing is ever truly original. I think that, if we grow comfortable with accessing our own experience and channeling that into our ideas, there will be no shortage of great music that comes from that. This is why I encourage you to borrow/steal/rip off your favorite artists with the caveat that you must always add your own personal experience to their ideas. Stand on the shoulders of giants!