I didn't say "you folkies," I said "you folks" (meaning the ones I've seen posting here and using the term). I always assumed you were referring to some newfangled techno thingie like ABC notation that can be plugged into a software program to translate to a musical score.

If that's what "the dots" are, how would you ever write a symphonic composition (efficiently) without them?

I realize that guitar tabs, if I knew how to read them, would probably be easier to "translate" to playing a piece on guitar than the notes on a staff are. But having learned to read "the dots" in grade school (at least within an octave or two of middle C) and having sung from church hymnals since childhood, I find "the dots" almost intuitively obvious to read -- in that the vertical position of a note corresponds readily to its pitch. I can kind of 'see' the melody in a musical score (even though I can't sight-read it precisely) in a way that I don't think I ever could with ABC notation or guitar tabs.

FWIW, I play guitar by ear -- or, rather, by ear and by trial and error -- in addition to reading chord diagrams or chord names. Being able to read music (within the range of the human voice) doesn't interfere with that. If anything, it helps.

And since I DON'T play piano by ear, I'd be lost without the sheet music for piano.

Genie