Les, I have your problem with the dots. I have used my mother to play some tunes on the piano when all I have is dots to go by so that I can get a feel for where the tune is going before using the dots.

I find a much better approach to just having the dots is to get hold of some music editing software. I use an Cakewalk. It is great, you just enter the dots which I do by hand (there is music recognitoin software around) and play the tune back. Another beauty of this approach is that you can alter the speed at which the piece is played.

When learning by ear, I find sorcha's aproach good but there are times I like to play along. There is a plug-in availible for WinAmp that will slow CDs played on your computer down without altering the pitch that could be useful. Also, I had a modified tape player for a while to allow me to slow a tune down (OK pitch changes) when learning. All I did was connect an old volume control from something else into the motor circuit.

As for mastering the Masons Apron, I'd guess that in the first instance it depends on what you mean by mastering and to a certain extent, you can make a tune easier or harder for yourself - playing every triplet that certain banjo players do and at the pace they do could be a lifetime ambition for example whereas on the other hand the basic 2 part tune is pretty straight forward even if it may not seem that way now.

Jon