Originally Posted By cgiles
Beautiful guitar work. Several famous jazz players, notably Jimmy Smith (organ) and Errol Garner (piano "Misty") didn't read music, but most of today's top jazz players do. As a general rule, most 'ear' players tend to play some of the simpler forms of music such as blues, folk, and rock. Very few become 'world-class players' and almost to a man they'll tell you that they wished that they could read. Of course 'reading' means different things to different people. Reading a 'fake sheet' and playing a simple Presbyterian hymn from a standard sheet are two different things. IMO, the best musicians can do both.

chas
Indeed, I heard ‘ear’ players saying that they wish they knew how to read music. I had been what Jazz musicians call a "note reader" for a long time. I think that's why Jazz has been very elusive for classically trained musicians.

Chris
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"You Shall Know the Truth, and the Truth will set you free." John 8:32