The first step in learning a song is to listen to a recording until you can hum the basic melody and feel the rhythm.

Our major scale looks like this: I–ii–iii–IV–V–vi–vii dim. Using this pattern, in the key of G, for example, the chords are: G major–A minor–B minor–C major–D major–E minor–F# diminished.

After you have those chord shapes under your fingers and the sound of the chords in your ears, play each chord starting from the home chord of the key, the I chord. Play I–ii, I–iii, I–IV, I–V, I–vi, I–viidim (C–Dm, C–Em, C–F, C–G, C–Am, C–Bdim). You are now playing the intervals, or distances, from the I chord to the other notes of the scale. Listen closely as you play these chord intervals and record them in your iHead player—these intervals are the building blocks of the songs you want to learn.