If I play from music, which, for me is a fairly slow thing as I don't do it often so don't get much practice, I find I tend to stick totally to what is written, but if I play something by ear I can embroider it, play about with it and do it the way I want to. In the last year or two I've started playing in sessions occasionally and I've found that the ability to play by ear is extrememly useful. I can often play a tune I've never heard before once I've listened through it once. I think it makes you hear the patterns in the music which you do less if you rely on written music. This may all be different for those who have had lessons, but as I'm mostly self-taught it works well for me. And playing by ear in sessions has improved my ear-playing rapidly and a lot.

Love Lynne