No did not slow it down. I was just practicing my runs and then started doing chord progressions to see what sounds I would get and found a set that made a good rhythm then it dawned on me that it was the rhythm for Heartbreaker. So I got the album out and listen to it like 20 times playing alone to it. When I got the rhythm right I began working out the lead. It took me like 2 days to get it exact but once I knew the backbone part the lead just began to fall into place every so slowly until I got it. It was strange for like 4 days I was obsessed with getting two songs right and would not play anything else besides just warm up exercises. Then I worked out Living Loving Maid. At fifthteen to figure out a couple of Led Zep songs by myself and get it right was a big thing for me. I had only been playing for like 6 months and was only really starting to train my ear. I know most people can master stuff by listening to it one time and knock it out but for me it was a big deal at the time. It was like “Hey I can play like Jimmy Page!”Plus at the time my first guitar was a 2nd hand Yamaha SG copy with a Ibanez Amp.
The majority of the time I learned from other players or would buy the sheet music and work it out. But it was the first time I had hit upon a track by just listening to it and working it out. I tried it with other songs and had some success but it is easier to get someone to show me or just buy the sheet music and go from there. But by doing it by ear it helped me to identify notes better. Far a long time when I heard something I would write down what I thought the progression was then play it then go and check it against the actual sheet music to see how close I was. And if I was far off I would go back and listen again and again and try to figure out why I missed the right notes. It helped me to train my ear better and keep it sharp.