12 tips for learning songs from records

Transcribing with the Capo app.

For many guitarists these days, the first move for learning a song is to go to the keyboard—and Google the chords or tab.

Those huge libraries of guitar charts online are incredibly useful, no doubt, but also have real weaknesses. As with everything online, transcriptions can be full of errors, and seeing the same info all over the web is not an indication of its accuracy, because lots of sites just mirror the same content. Even for famous songs, online charts are often missing critical info like capo positions and alternate tunings. Learning tunes more accurately and thoroughly requires digging deeper.

In my work for Acoustic Guitar magazine and in teaching lessons and workshops, I spend a lot of time sussing out and sharing how songs are played.

In a piece for Acoustic Guitar, published in the March/April 2022 issue and posted online, I offer 12 tips to help with the process, many of which employ the most important learning tool of all: your ears.