These days, transcribing is easy. There are many great freeware programs that will allow you to rip a song from your favorite CD and load it into an audio editor where you can define regions for quick playback or looping and even slow a section down–without changing pitch for more difficult parts.

Some of my greatest musical epiphanies occurred while transcribing and realizing, “Oh, that’s what the hell they were doing!” I strongly encourage you to put pen to paper and internalize and eternalize the music.