thanks for all your replies. and the duplicates. (?) i taught myself to play three years ago, and i started by teaching myself sheetmusic. so i became adept at reading music way before i started to learn to play by ear. at first i was horrible at the whole ear thing. thank g-d, now i've made a vast improvement and can usually figure out a song with simple chords on the spot. and after seeing all of your posts and thinking it over, i gotta agree that of course they are both important, and that we should concentrate on developing both, because of changing situations and also to develop ourselves as performers. i also agree with scotty, that the crowd appreciates it more if they dont know where its coming from. if they SEE the source, even iof they dont neccesarily understand it, it still cheapens it for them. also, Roel made an excellent point, being that with the music in front of you, its like a guide, your less likely to go off track. i find that when im doing dinners or slow bits, it always helps to have the chords at the very least in front of me. helps me focus. so those are my thoughts. thanks for all your wonderful insights. its funny, though, i feel like a mere simpleton among wise men. you all have been playing for years and years. im just 18, and i only started when i was 15!

Looking forward to sapping more of your wisdom!
Zack