I felt that my musical ear got the most amount of development when I used to play guitar in garage bands. IMO, playing with others and trying to imitate what others are playing is a great way to intuitively train your ear and still have some fun.

Actually, many great musicians do not have perfect pitch, and some pros say it is overemphasized. IMO, it is more important to truly perceive the rhythm of a musical piece than concentrating on absolute pitch.

For automatic transcription of music you also might want to try PitchScope (www.creativedetectors.com). It's a lot more than your average slow down software. Besides slowing down, it will recognize the notes in a musical solo, record them to a note list, and present them in a graphic editor where yo...