Hi Sue,

Great question! theres a few ways to do it, One way is I look for the root note by trying lots of different notes on the Low E string until i find one that i think works and then play either the major scale from that note or the minor scale.

If either of those sound good against the record it will try the chords in that key by process of elimination and start transcribing.

This is something quite hard to explain in the classroom never mind in a social media post! The most success i have had with teaching this is doing it live in the room with a student. I could have a go at making a video transcribing a tune i dont know and talking through the process?