This is HUGE! You’ve just hit on an issue that we haven’t covered yet… learning the song before learning the song.
I’ve found that if I really want to do well learning one of Ben’s song lessons, it’s a lot easier if I download his MP3 of the whole song with him playing the lead instrument and listen to it over and over… to the point that my mind anticipates the notes he’s going to play. This may not seem like a necessary step, but it really is. Even if you don’t realize it, your mind is learning where, on the fret board, those notes are. If your mind can anticipate the notes, your fingers will be more likely to go there on their own. With enough experience, you can use this knowledge to build your own melody leads on songs you don’t know when you’re at a jam session.
So, in a nutshell, here’s my learning process:
1 - listen to the song until I feel I know it.
2 - using the TEF file, highlight small sections of the song and memorize each section and a slow tempo (sometimes as slow as 20% of normal speed.) I keep repeating it until I can play it without looking at the tab.
3 - highlight the next small section, repeat #2, then add those sections together.
4 - reference Ben’s video if a section seems too difficult. Often, I’m fingering it incorrectly and the video straightens me out.
5 - Once all parts are memorized, I use the TEF file to start speeding up the song. Once I can play the song through 3 times in a row without messing up, I up the speed 5 to 10%, then work to play it perfectly 3 times in a row at the new speed.
6 - Once I get it fast enough, I download Ben’s jam tracks and play with them. They’re funner to play with than the TEF files. Also, if you use Audacity to play the MP3 files, you can speed up and slow down the jam tracks. The recording I posted of Blackberry Blossom was actually played at 110% of the original speed, just because I liked the way it sounded sped up just a tad.