When I learned solfege nearly 30 years ago, a major 3 was spelled “mi” (pronounced “me”) and a minor/flat 3 was spelled “me” (pronounced “may”)
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Just curious for my own store of knowledge of how hard is it for many of you to listen to a tune being played and pick out the chord changes and/or the bass line? So much of how I learned was done by ear because there were few other ways to do it that I wonder if that’s become somewhat of a lost art these days.
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Almost 100%. Although I’m suck at chords. I know root notes and enough to guess what’s coming next. I might cheat and plug it in to Moises then figure out the notes from there.
That said, I’m not a stranger to paying some pros on Fiverr to do the in-depth transcriptions. Some songs are just beyond my listening ability, 
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OK, that one response. Keep 'em coming. With so many options now available online and otherwise I have a curiosity which would also bleed into my plans as far as beginning to give lessons again now that I’m fully set up to do it.
Remember back when you learned how to type on a keyboard in the 80s / 90s. That’s about where I’m at with figuring out songs by ear.
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I was a rhythm guitar player since a young teen. My life was chords and harmony. Without online tab and an easy way to slow tunes down, the only way to learn songs was to listen to them over and over again.
Whenever I could find songs I was familiar with printed in a book, along with lyrics and corresponding chord fingerings, every relationship became much clearer.
With more listening practice, I became able to hear chord changes and key modulations in every tune. I was never interested in playing lead guitar, but I was always fascinated with rhythm and harmony. 
The final piece of the puzzle was learning music theory. That unlocked the why behind the how of music construction. 
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I don’t consider myself to have a very good ‘ear’, so if a chord change comes I can usually hear whether it’s gone up or down but not necessarily by how far! However if a chord change comes and either I don’t change my root or change it incorrectly I can generally hear that it is out. Sadly that’s about it for me!
If I’m tuning relative to another string, for example dropped D tuning, I rely a lot on harmonics and hearing the beats.
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I miss working on war training and figuring stuff out. I’m in new song learning ASAP mode until Feb. It’s still fun but it is a far departure from my old ways of bumbling around on riffs and calling it practice.
I think I have great ears once I see the pattern of a song and hear it it’s locked in. I struggle with non melodic stuff that doesn’t make sense. Even songs like Because the night by Patti Smith their me off because the bass doesn’t sound in key with her singing to me.
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This is another instance where the Tennessee numbering system is a big help. There are some very common chord progressions that are used in a lot of songs. So knowing what some of those are can help you guess the progression once you figure a few of the chords/roots out.
I don’t know if this is the best way to do it or not, but when I learn a song by ear, I usually try to figure out the key before tackling the chord progression. I feel like that makes it easier, at least for me. Oftentimes the first root note in the song is the key, so many times once you figure out what the root is in the first bar, you have a good idea what the key is, and now you know the sharps/flats for the song. Of course some songs do change keys, but it’s usually pretty obvious when that happens.
The first step of learning a new tune is always to determine the key it’s in.
And while the state of Tennessee would likely like to claim credit for the system, it’s actually the Nashville Numbering System. 
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Last I checked Nashville is in Tennessee. But yes, you’re correct. I mistyped. 
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This is where being able to play guitar or piano can help.
Once I know the melody of the primary vocals I can sit down with a guitar and work out an accurate chord progression. From that and with my ears I can either figure out the bass line or create one that will fit.
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