Yes, Bev and Jerry, that's what we did for solo competitions in school, but i hated the memorising part even though I did well. It is so much less enjoyable than learning/memorising something by ear!

Mudlark, way back when some classically trained pianists could do like Leadbelly, my Uncle Courtney did so on piano and his brother, Howard, could really cut loose on clarinet, despite the fact that they had classical music lessons while growing up. My dad, who had a few fiddle lessons and was taught to read music in grammar school (didn't all schools used to do that? Ours did.), still talks in awe of their incredible natural talent for jazz, trad, and dance music. My sister has an old 78 that Uncle Courtney had made one time. I'll have to see about getting a copy of it made.:-)