Subject: RE: Playing by ear-advantageor disadvantage?
From: Malcolm Douglas - PM
Date: 15 Jun 00 - 11:08 PM

As has been said several times earlier in this thread (so that I don't see why it was felt necessary to revive it), one should ideally aim to be able to do both. Being able to play only from written notation is like being unable to speak without a text to read from; being able only to play by ear is as limiting as having to learn by heart, from somebody else's recitation, the contents of each new daily paper. I'm an ear-player, and quite good at it, but I wish I'd been taught properly when I was in a position to learn, relatively painlessly, how to be musically "literate". It would save a lot of time.

Malcolm