How do you tend to learn a song?

[gonzilla]

Thoughts?

[EBMatt]

Heavily repeated stuff first, other stuff 2nd.

[bluewine]

I have been using my Ipod, however, you have to be careful.

When you are playing along to the song you might think your grooving and then come to find out without playing along you ain't as groovy as you thought you were.

[DudeistMonk]

I usually go measure to measure if I'm trying to play it as written but if I'm re-writing stuff or don't care to play it as recorded I go through the song 2 or 3 times just playing the roots then I write out the chords on a sheet of paper and then go back and study the fills and transitions, and any other elements I want to keep the same.

[bass12]

It depends on how much time I have to learn the song. If I have plenty of time, the first thing I'll do is listen to the song passively. This way I'm hearing the song without focusing on any particular parts - I'm just letting the general feel of it sink in a bit. Next I'll identify sections (verse, chorus, bridge) and write the general form out. This immediately makes the song easier to digest for me (I will often also make a note of how many bars each section consists of). Then I'll figure out the key and start learning the bass line. At this stage I'm also taking account of what the chords are (though I might not catch all of the extensions). Depending on the complexity of the song, I might write out a simple chord chart. If there are any punches I'll notate them on the chart. Ideally, when it comes to the gig I won't need the chart - it always depends on how much preparation time I have and how complex the songs are. I've also had to learn a lot of songs right there on the bandstand. For the type of gigs I generally play, a quick ear goes a lot farther than good reading skills. The only time I'll incorporate notation or TAB reading into song-learning is when I'm learning something very demanding (like a Jaco piece) and I want to double-check what I'm hearing (or think I'm hearing). By the way, there's a great book by Lucy Green called "How Popular Musicians Learn". You might find it interesting.

[rappa29]

My usual process to learning a song (regardless of instrument).

1.) Listen to the song ad nauseum before even touching my instrument. Get a good idea and feel of how the song flows, the dynamics, what the melody is doing, what the other instruments are doing, how your instrument fits in the grand scheme of the tune. Know it well it enough that I can sing my part. I'm not a singer, but can sing enough to sing or hum my part. As they say, if you can sing it, you can play it.

2.) Sit down with my instrument and start playing through the progressions and changes, from start to finish.

3.) When I'm comfortable playing start to finish and nailing all the changes, start nitpicking...inflections...what inversion they're playing (if I'm learning the keyboard part)....how they're defining the groove (pushing the beat, on top or behind)...etc.