i never learn stuff note for note anymore-just lazy for the most part, and we tend to genre-bend stuff, so most of what we play ends up sounding more like us than the original artist, BUT...
we've been kicking around the idea of doing "stray cat strut" for a couple of years, and once i started working on it i realized i could offer absolutely nothing to that song that wasn't already there.
so, i ended up learning every lick true to the original recording, checking out live versions for variations (suprisingly few...)and all in all spent more time playing guitar in the last week than i have all year.
it's been fun, and now i'm starting to delve into theory more than i have since i was in college, trying to figure out why what i just learned by rote sounds so fucking cool, and how to apply it to my improvisation.
no real point here, no question, just thought i'd share a step on the journey.