For me I stick with by ear. Might be slower but feels better when I succeed.
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Also forgot to mention I have gibsons “RockSmith” which is a spin on guitarhero.
I used to use tabs but I noticed many of them even the official ones are really off so eventually stopped using them. Ill try to learn songs by ear and compare them to the tabs for example Megadeth - Lucretia. I was able to break down the intro riff by playing it at 25% and I when looked at the tabs I was actually pretty spot on other than some hammer on differences.
Ill also use youtube videos for the tabs to solos and I think Ben Eller def is the best one to check out. His transcription of Tornado Of Souls solo is by the far the most accurate and about as close as to Martys playing I think.
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Ben Eller is solid.
I enjoy watching guitar play throughs on you tube. Seems most of the artist will have a couple video play throughs.
Same devintb , youtube, if you search, can be a great tool for learning songs. I have an app that captures videos and then you can change the tempo without changing the pitch.
My ear is still not good enough to learn entire songs with. I will try to use my ear for specific parts or if I think the lesson/tab is wrong compared to the artist’s recording. When I get it right by ear it’s extremely satisfying.
I use a lot of youtube lessons and sometimes tab, but I have found most tab is not that accurate and end up having to un-do a lot of the incorrect parts that I learn.
I hear you. I started referencing ultimate guitar tabs when I grow impatient
I’m learning songs by ear. I’m using VLC to slow things down and Youtube to see if there’s a video of the artists playing the song live. For the YouTube part, I’m using it as a reference to see if I got the correct fingerings.
Nothing better than nailing the base notes or all the notes and or improvising over a riff
I must admit, I rely on videos too much probably… My ear is not that great.
Hey maybe an ear training course here is in the future… just saying
Sometimes (a lot o times) ear isn’t enough…for me
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I usually use YouTube, mainly looking for tutorial.
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I used to rely on tab and YT tutorials when I was learning more popular songs such as Megadeth and Metallica etc… but as my skills developed I was forced to start learning by ear because the songs I’m learning don’t have tabs and if you can find 3+ covers on YT you’re lucky (Kiko’s older solo works and some Angra songs for example. I’m also talking 2012ish).
Nowadays I learn mostly by ears with a combination of watching other people’s covers. I cannot stress enough of the benefit and growth I’ve gained from learning it this way, and I would strongly encourage all players to do the same.
One thing I have to admit tho learning by ear with limited technical knowledge can be frustrating and discouraging if you don’t have a mentor/teacher/friend to ask questions. When I first started by myself I was really struggling because there were so many phrases/licks that I didn’t know how it’s executed. However once I had more technical chops I would listen to a phrase and be able to determine which technique to apply to be able to efficiently recreate it. Sometimes it may be different than how the original artist plays it but who cares? That’s the beauty of a cover right?
Lastly, for anyone who’s learning by ear, a tool to slow down the song is evidently a must. I used to use gAssistant on desktop but nowadays I use a mobile app called Track Studio (it’s on iOS not sure about Android). It’s free and it has all the functions you need like tempo and tone control also a-b repeat. Most importantly you can slow down the track without any loss of quality. Ofc you can slow down a song on YT too but you can’t do a a-b segment repeat also the quality is nerfed. Definitely a must-have if you’re learning by ear.
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Yoooooo I’ve been meaning to make a video talking about tabs and Lucretia and Tornado of Souls were gonna be my go-to example. I almost gave up learning both of those years ago cuz the tabs for the solo were SO off at certain point. What’s worse is that they were top voted so you’d be questioning whether or not it’s just you can’t play it. But as I learned more I started to realize that many tabs may “sound” right but the tab is COMPLETELY inefficient as far as execution. Many times it’s just plainly impossible to execute at the intended tempo. Sometimes I’d read the tab and watch the artist play live and be like wow that is not even close to how it’s actually executed. At the end if the tab is not made by the original artist or the author didn’t tab it base off how the original artist plays it’s just an interpretation that yields room for inaccuracy. Some may sound 100% accurate but the execution may be 200% off. I’m definitely going to make my video talking about it now.
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Buudee upload a video play through on show and tell page. Be cool to see some riffing and soloing.
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I use mostly ear , but jamming,watching, and interacting live with other players has always been best way for me to learn riffs and songs . I hope to get back to that as soon it becomes safe to do so.
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I definitely use all three but tabs and YouTube are my main strong choices. I just started getting into learning by ear since I’m starting to feel more comfortable with my capabilities but still struggling since I feel it’s not entirely accurate. Any great programs to slow the song down without distorting the song too much?
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If you still want to learn the solo from Tornado of Souls I can recommend a video from Ben Eller on Youtube. He has a “spot on” version from the studioversion, where he explains, why he plays what, with reference to the song.
Thats the way I’m learning it, but I am still working on getting songs by ear one day, but for that I need a better understanding of musictheory, than I have now.
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I am HORRIBLE being consistent with videos that’s why my YT channel never grows lol I’m working on my cover for Grey Stone Gateway I think that was a good video to talk about the difference between learning from tab vs learning by ears and eyes. Once it’s up I’ll be sure to share here 
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Im looking forward to it, I love the song and I have a really hard time learning it, but its a good practice for me.
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