Hi Guys and Gals,
Great question JT1! It's very interesting to hear everyone's different approach.
Here's mine; most of the time when I have to learn a song there is not so much time, so as I listen to it the first time, I try to make a rough chart, writing the bar lines as the bars go by. I stop the player as little as possible while trying to get the form written down. (in fact, this is kind of a reading exercise, since I don't read so much on the job.) Sometimes repeat signs and first and second endings can help in this process.
So, after a couple of listens, there is a chart that shows where the verses, choruses, and bridge or middle 8, are.This also has the basic beat for each of these parts.
Then I listen to any fills that are a part of the song and write them out if they need to be reproduced.
After this is done, I take any fill or part that I can not play comfortably and loop it.
A fun thing to do is to play the loop of a fill from a song in many different ways, and starting on different parts of the beat. That way you can use your own version of this in another time and place.
Another great thing about this is that if you keep the chart handy, even a year later you can play the song well using the chart to remind you whats going on.
Thanks for reading and happy drumming!