Started off as an "ear only" player, but needed to sight read when I worked as a staff session player.
Diki is right...both skills are needed, but it's easy to rely on charts. The hardest thing to do for me is throw away the "crutch".
I have some old yellow cards on my piano. They are songs I never learned to play from memory.
I'll never learn them until I either throw away the card or it simply dissolves from old age. Some are old enough to be written on parchment or tree bark!
Russ
[This message has been edited by captain Russ (edited 06-25-2009).]