Simple question, for me, it's a simple answer as well.

I look for the tabs, and if I can't find them, I find a cover version with a clear view of what the player is doing.

Once I have it memorized, I play along with the studio version until I can do it with fewer and fewer mess ups.

Once I feel I'm ready, I move on to live versions, getting them progressively faster if i can find them.

For example:

http://tabs.ultimate-guitar.com/r/ramon ... io_tab.htm





And I'll post the cover because there were a few grey areas in this song. I had to observe this guy a few times.

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1984 Squier Contemporary Stratocaster
1986 Peavey Envoy 110
1967 Kingston Acoustic

I do pretty much the same. I try to find any mess ups in the tab, by comparing other tabs and using my ear. Then, look at different versions (or videos). Also, I try and figure out what scales and chords the guitarist is using together to get an idea of how they wrote it. Once I have learned it, then I play with adding my own licks or chord variations keeping in mind what tools they used composing it. Hopefully by then I have worked it up to speed. I slow down the track and play along then speed up incrementally until I reach full speed or reach my speed limit.

I have to plan my practice sessions because my wife will complain if I play the same lick over and over trying to master it. I do my repetitive stuff when she is away.

Oh, one more thing. Once I can play it pretty good, if I can sing it, I start working on that by first silently reading the lyrics as I play it. Then, speak the lyrics as I play. Finally, I try and sing (not always pretty).

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My ability to spell is in direct proportion to the amount of coffee I've had.

I never learned to read tab,so the only way that I learned any songs was to listen to the song so many times that I knew every little nuance of it before I even picked up the guitar. When I finally did pick up the guitar to figure out the chords I knew the song inside and out so picking out the chords was a cinch as too were the lead breaks-that is unless it was Jimi of course.

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'65 Strat,65 Mustang,65 Jaguar,4 more Strats,3 vintage Vox guitars,5 Vox amps,'69 Bassman with a '68 2-15 Bassman cab,36 guitars total-15asst'd amps total,2 vintage '60s Hammond organs & a myriad of effects-with a few rare vintage ones.

I don't use tabs unless I'm really, really stuck on an odd chord voicing or a peculiar phrasing but it has to be pretty unusual before I turn to tabs and usually they aren't of much help anyway because they are most often too simplified. Mostly I just play the CD or MP3 and play along a few times until I get it. I'm pretty good at just picking stuff up by listening. When I was learning we didn't have the internet ... so that was what you did. You played the song on your turntable and played along with it. After more than 40 years at it you develop an ear for that sort of thing and it just comes naturally. My biggest problem is that I am also a bassist as well as a guitarist so I usually learn a way to play the song that incorporates the bass line as well as the guitar parts and then I get people who learned from a book or tab telling me I'm playing it wrong. I love it when they try to correct me. I watch them do it once, then I do it exactly as they did it and then proclaim my way sounds better.

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Just think of how awesome a guitar player you could have been by now if you had only spent the last 10 years practicing instead of obsessing over pickups and roasted maple necks.

I always avoid tabs. The vast majority of tabs I've seen online are just plain wrong. I'd sit there for an hour with my guitar learning the piece properly by ear rather than look at some amateur transcriber's attempts and end up frustrated by their mistakes.

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my stuff on soundcloud

***Ramones songs need tabs?***

As a beginner, I prefer video tutes. Usually with songs I love, so I've already got an ear for the strumming and the chords (or at least what they sound like) Then if someone does a bad one or gets a chord or lick wrong, at least you know. With tabs you don't, and I find them tiresome to read.

I got an excellent beginners book, with suggested (beginners) strumming patterns, but all that DDuuDudu does my head in. My ears seem to be ok with strum patterns, so I use those, as I've always loved riffs and rhythm guitar. If I get stuck, a vid can help, although there can be many variations, but at least that can help nail it down, and help my ears out.

On a gig, I read/follow the chart(s).

On my own, by listening and first finding the key, then learning, then transposing to a key that I sing in, then changing parts to make it sound like I want it to.



*note - if you listen and can't find the key, put a guitar tuner near the speaker...works like a charm.

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Being able to play and enjoy music is a gift that's often taken for granted.

Don't leave home without it!

Bassist here. If playing something like a play you have to play the pages as written mostly. I tend to sometimes even simplify these.

In an original band project I try not to get in the way of the vocals too much and try to leave some space for other players to work in. Working with the drummer to keep things moving or make them more interesting depending on how busy the instrumentation is already.

In a cover tune on a band project I listen to the bass and drums in the original recording. I figure out what I like and also what I don't like about what the bassist is doing and how to better compliment the rhythm. I rarely copy exactly what they are doing on recordings, even if I do have the sheet music or tab. I can usually find my own part that winds up being different from the recorded one. Sometimes my part will be simpler and sometimes it is not. Often I use much more octave play than originally done, especially in bridges, turnarounds and instrumental breaks. But my main goal is to support everything else going on, not get in the way of it.

EARS. you tube is an amazing tool but i only use it for stuff that i get really frustrated with. like BMW, i didn't have the intranet when i started. i usually have the song down before i even get a guitar in my hands. i'm not trying to brag but its true. i have to add that i don't get hung up on note for note perfection. especially solos.

Yes, see the first post.

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1984 Squier Contemporary Stratocaster
1986 Peavey Envoy 110
1967 Kingston Acoustic

For especially tough bits, I use a program called Transcribe.

It lets you loop sections and slow down the music without changing the pitch. You can speed it up as you get better until you are up to speed.

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This is really difficult for me, hopefully I'll get better at it.

Am learning notation, but I'm not there yet. But, it does help to see the song notation and listen along with it.

And of course... Practice, Practice, Practice !!

cheers!

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'11 FSR Am. Vtg. Ltd. Ed. CAR '57 Stratocaster (SN# LE02639)
'14 American Deluxe Ash Stratocaster
'12 Telebration Empress Telecaster
'99 Deluxe Nashville Telecaster
'12 FSR Telecaster HH
'10 Heritage H-535
'99 Martin DC-1E
'13 Lanikai Tenor Ukulele

I might get that post printed on a t-shirt.

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my stuff on soundcloud

Listen, listen and listen again if required for me.

Veeeeeeery occasionally I'll slow something down just to get what they're doing, but it's always with the ears.

It's how I learned to play 22 years ago - sitting listening again and again to the stereo trying to make the same sort of noises come out of a bit of wood and some strings - It's worked so far, so I'm not changing.

I think the ability to ''copy'' or ''cover'' a song , depends on how used you are to listen to the music . Like others here , I've been playing the guitar more than 40 years . So at the time I found out that I wanted to ''play like the stars'' , I had to listen carefully and just try what worked out . In that way ,I imagine, I was developing my ability of understanding what sounded good , and easily recognized the most common patterns in playing .
So ( without bragging, as mentioned earlier here... ) I often pick up the guitar the first time I hear a song , and just play along as good as I am able to. Usually I find it pretty obvious which direction the song will take. If I want to learn it to perfection , I just repeat-repeat-repeat.
Unnecessary to say - I don't use tabs. Though I had to learn'em some 30 years ago , as I suddenly got a job as a teacher/instructor for a group of people. ( in fact -I had to use them a couple of years ago - to learn a composition from a guy in my band at that time . It really had some unusual turns )
So I think both tabs and Youtube are fantastic ways of learning fast - but still I feel it (often) is a bit like building a house without having a stable foundation . Which sometimes leads to nearly comical listening experiences You think you listen to a good player - suddenly it comes a horrible mistake , like one note wrong, which gives a major rather than the sound of a minor . And they keep on repeating it - without hearing it !?
So my advice , for the novices ,at least -would be:

1.Listen to music!!
2.Listen critically to what you play
3. Always keep your guitar on your lap when you watch TV - play along !

Cheers !

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A-man