My mother bought me a toy-clarinet. I played on it for some days and then it suddenly somehow disappeared.

So in the age of about 30 I built a simple string instrument and then started to pick melodies on it. Then I started to play Guitar. I even took lessons from a Russian Guitarmaster.

I *had* to learn to use the "dots", whereas my mother who had been playing Piano in the childhood played my Guitar by ear.

So I started to pick melodies on the Guitar. I found it quit interesting to look at a totally unknown piece and try to see what I could make of it.

The playing by ear and mostly playing by rote did not work out but still it is for me at least fascinating to try out a new piece from Russia or Macedonia or whatever and try to make something out of it.

Later I quite often succeeded in finding a recorded version of some of the pieces I had played "Blind". Sometimes I find that what I have decuced was essentially what the recorded artist played. Sometimes the recording went quite contrarywise to the way I used to play.

Some of the pieces were of course such as are sung/played everywere and they do not pose any problem. You know from the beginning how the piece sounds and you try to play like it.

At the age of 69 I started to play a Bayan (Russian Accordion) and then I started to regret that I can not play by ear.

But slowly, slowly something like playing by ear is emerging but in this age it is very slow and difficult. I try to learn by improvising and it sounds fine now and then but still the playing by ear is far off.

I am personally sorry that my mother did not think I was able to learn to play an instrument (My voice is no good) but one has to make do with what one has.

My cousin plays the Accordion by ear and regrets that he can not play by the dots like me.

Different people have different backgrounds and different innate abilities. Let everyone make his/her music as best as he/she can and before all enjoy it.

The answer to the question is in my opinion that playing by ear is a good thing as is also playing by the dots.