Gaolee
Official leathers tester and crash dummy
Answering your original question.
It depends on the band. I play in a cover band and play what was on the original recording for the most part. There are little embellishments here and there, and sometimes sneaking off into the weeds is OK, but mostly, it's just sticking fairly close to the original.
I play bass in a couple other bands that don't write music but also don't play covers. We do what we do, and my bass playing is whatever the song seems like it needs. It's not always the same every time. That's a whole lot of fun so long as lack of discipline doesn't get too thick.
I'm the drummer in the fourth and final band. We do originals and the arrangements happen organically. We start jamming and it turns into a song. Or not. Then I have to remember what I did, and that can be tough sometimes. If we play it once, decide it's going to turn into a song, and then forget to record it onto a cell phone or something, it can be a real challenge to remember how it goes.
As far as training, I took piano lessons as a kid and understand music theory from that. No lessons on bass or guitar. I picked up drums recently, so I take lessons to jump start the learning curve. I read music in some basic way and can read tabs, but I can't sight read. I can read charts easily enough to pick up songs quickly and figure out riffs by ear fast enough that it's not much of a problem. It's just practice, not any kind of great talent.
It's only fair
