Was playing by ear in a dining room at an officers club at Ladd AFB in Fairbanks when I was 13.

But when the studio work began, it was quickly apparent that to do high end studio stuff you had to site read in real time. As the work evolved to film scores, there were lots of tempo changes, modulations, stops and starts...things done much easier from a chart.

Then, the natural step was theory, which I enjoyed immensely.

Today, most of my live playing is pretty much "off the cuff", unless I'm playing with the Philharmonic, where real time site reading is essential. In the studio, formal training is a must.

Short story. One night at a country club, the manager said that a new music professor was in the lobby asking for a job. He wanted to know if I would mind him playing. He brought out his sax and a music stand and asked for the charts. I had a duo; me on B-3 and piano and a drummer.

Guy couldn't play one note by ear. Today, he is the head of the University school of music and only plays with a big band, where, naturally everyone reads.

Have played with lots of master's level players(that's the terminal degree here) who sounded awful.

I guess having the ability to play live AND formal training is the best of both worlds.

Good topic, Mark!

Russ