Well you song types may start off by copying someone but I didn't copy anyone with my Irish harmonica because I didn't know at the time of anyone else doing it. I did learn some tunes from records, but not from harmonica players. I learned a lot from a Jackie Daly album, which I just about wore out (Music from Sliabh Luachra Vol. 6). I learned a lot of Planxty and Bothy Band tunes, but it wasn't exactly copying. Guitar, maybe, but learning tunes from notation or tabs is the wrong way to learn traditional tunes.