It almost seems from Tom Cavanaugh's oft-repeated input immediately after my post on this subject that his impression is that few 'by ear' players are able to step outside the spectrum of three or four chords.

Just for the record I will state that I am one of the few, then. I worked professionally in the UK for many years with regular live broadcasts on the BBC and appeared at live functions for the royal family in addition to having recorded a number of singles one of which, the title music from a movie, broke into the UK top 20.

So, I guess this blows Mr. Cavanaugh's theory out of the water somewhat, and I would add that I was not alone. There were (and are) many players better than I with only a darn good ear to go on.

Another point worth mentioning on this topic is that I've known plenty of red hot sight readers who've possessed not one ounce of 'feel' - now there's a real drawback.