Sight reading music is a important skill for most musicians who want to really grow and appreciate all the nuances and flavours of music out there.

But being able to hear chords and appreciate the relationship between chords and scales and melodies and rhythms is a far more versatile skill in my opinion.

The art of truly creating music cannot be restricted by the notes on the piece of paper in front of you . At best, that can only show you how to mimic someone else's creativity. But being able to play by ear and understanding chord inversions and chord progressions and to be able to apply them to any given tune is fundamentals to true creativity. So in my view although both skills are important, I would rate playing by ear oversight read