What works best for you when learning a new song?

HAL9000

thecolourbox said:

I'm a 1 and a 7 pretty much. Don't like 2 as often it takes me a while into learning it before i realise it's wrong and have to relearn it anyway. YouTube tutorials seem awful to me

^ This pretty much me. My ability to read little black dots isn’t great, but music score does at least gives a sense of timing (which is where tablature usually fails abysmally).

I agree about YouTube tutorials (and also those sites where people upload their own chords, tabs, etc). So many of them are just plain wrong.

HAL9000

slacker said:

2 5 6 7

Tom Robinson Band?

Roland

stratman3142 said:

Mainly (7) by ear, then (3) transcribe it into (1) music score (in Musescore). But I only bother transcribing chord charts and basic melodies/riffs, unless I'm transcribing a solo as an exercise.

Occasionally I reference stuff on YouTube (5). I'll use anything to speed up the process including online Tab, knowing it's often partly wrong but enough to save some time.

But I'm strictly amateur compared to some musicians I've been lucky to work with, who could play things by ear on the fly, and I expect there are some on this forum who could do that.

This. Rhythm parts I learn by ear (7), and decide which chord shapes/positions give me the best sound. Solos and riffs I transcribe (3). It’s part of my learning process, and also helps when I come back to a song years later.

When arranging songs for the band I use YouTube (5) to see how the original artist played the song live, and how the performance and arrangement changed over time.

What I never use are other people’s scores, tab, chord books and videos. So many of them are wrong. Take for example Jeff Baxter’s solo from Hot Stuff, and look at some YouTube “lessons”. There’s no consensus about the notes or which strings and positions to use, and most people play it with the wrong feel.

Cranky

Originally I was all tabs.

Now that I understand the fretboard a lot better, I start with 7 and then check in at 2, then I check myself with the youtubers after giving it a go to see if I was on the right track.

I also don't really like learning "how to play" songs, but instead I like learning how songs "can be played" in different ways.  

bingefeller

Tabs for me and then slowing it down to about 90% and learning it slower, then speeding up to 95% then finally 100%.  

Devil#20

I don't understand song chord books at all. They seem worse than useless. Does ANYBODY actually use them?

PolarityMan

2 and 5. Wish I could do 7 though.