M. Ted:

Guess What?
I buy and have a collection of many many books, inlcuding music notation, and tabs. It's sort of my hobby.

Guess What again?
I have been trying to do just what Susan and you suggest. I'm often in the car with 2 or 3 harmonicas trying to find which one to use. I'm getting better at it, but have heard more than once... My harmonica is in the wrong key, or my banjo, or my autoharp when someone else that can "hear" music is with me. I'm getting better at it, but since I started with no music in my life as a kid it doesn't come natural to me (I've always been skinny, and can eat ice cream whenever I want too. Should, I say to someone that has to watch every gram that they eat to avoid being obese, "just don't eat that much, it can't be that hard", "or why do you need that special diet program, can't you just watch what you eat on your own?").

Guess What again, again?
Check out "Note Chaser" It does analyze and tell you every note played in a passage, and you can therefore use it to figure out the chords, and the key fairly easily. However, with my computer system I can process about 1 song a night with it (converting it to a WAV File, etc.)..

Last, Here is a question:
Why do people think when a question is asked that the questioner is trying to find a "magic" or "easy" solution? I would love to have music come more easily to me, and I've been trying to learn for years and years and years. Also, every time I post I try to have done my homework: I've checked the DT and/or the archives; I've looked in Music books; I've searched the Web and other sites. I'm not asking for a "push the button" solution, or trying to take the easy way out, all I'm looking for is additional tools.

Music and ear training comes more naturally to some people and while they can be learned by anyone (I hope)they are more difficult for others. I can gaurauntee to you the amount of effort that I have to put in to learn a song is way way more than many other people: I look it up in books, I listen to it, I practice, I tape myself, and I do all of things that you are supposed to do, but many times I just don't hear it, or get it for a very long time. In highscool, my choir director used to throw up her hands in frustration when we would go down the row. When it was my turn, I would sing the passage a third lower than I should (the relative notes were correct), and couldn't "hear" that I was off until she pointed it out to me. Now I can at least hear that something is wrong but often don't know what it is. Progress :-)

JAB Gutbucketeer.