Does anyone use this technique when learning full songs?
I’ve found it very helpful for getting full songs up to a solid performance level. If you have issues towards the middle or end of a tune or solo, I’d recommend trying it.
Heard of it a loooong time ago at my local Conservatory, don’t even remember if I ever tried it.
However nowadays I’d say maybe there’s a connection between this idea and some of Hal Galper’s forward motion teachings? 
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Yes (to learning back to front). It always just seemed to make sense to me that one might want to be more practiced as one goes through a tune versus risk trainwreck and anxiety moving through a piece. Getting a little more disciplined about taking sections at a time though, recently.
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I tend to use this method if a song is too challenging to quickly master from start to finish. For example i’m currently learning Tommy Emmanuel’s cover of Somewhere Over The Rainbow. The harp harmonics in the intro are proving very challenging so I’ve jumped around the verses, choruses, and connecting phrases in between attempting the intro. After a couple of days I can now fake my way through most of the song , a feat that wouldn’t have happened if I had stuck on the intro this whole time.
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Nice. Are you figuring it out or is there a transcription for it?
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What a simple (in hindsight) yet brilliant idea! I’ll try to remember that for the next thing I learn.
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I’m using a tab for this one, and tweaking the parts that I think are incorrect. I’m more interested in playing the piece than the ear training challenge. Although any of Tommy’s pieces would make for excellent transcription practice.
I should add I’m not totally back chaining like the article suggests, but jumping around the piece and tackling sections in the order they appeal to me. This is my standard method to avoid getting bored with parts I can’t learn overnight, it’s definitely a non linear approach.
I like the idea of back chaining for sake of removing the anxiety about “the dreaded difficult part” though, something I might try once i’m familiar enough with all the parts in isolation.
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