Since no one else put up their notes, I’ll share an example of my production secrets with the world.
I confess, I did this a lot early on in my recording days in the late 80's as a writer/producer when I was working with MIDI. I too do not formally read music and I am self taught on the instruments that I play.
I’m sure that any good musician worth his weight in salt could easily visualize a song’s structure without having to write it down. I, on the other hand ….
Yes, I would do exactly as you describe and my notes would pretty much always be this simple (see attached photo). As simple as this illustration is, it was very helpful to me.
Fortunately for me, when computers brought DAWs into the picture, then the “picture” of the song was laid out in front of me in the form of the timeline. Markers can be your friend! So, now I rarely use these kinds of drawings and notes. Also, my song structure identification methods have been greatly improved by time I’ve spent working on recordings as well as some classes at Berklee!
I can’t recommend enough the Critical Listening course at Berklee Music!!
My shield is up now and I’m ready for the chastising …. And …. GO!