Originally posted by Diki:
It's easy to fall into that trap of thinking, that JUST because we 'pros' have all day to do this stuff, we are just that much better at it 
Unfortunately, that is not quite the case. We didn't learn this stuff AFTER we became pros. We would never have been able to become pros if we couldn't do this stuff first...
Even if you only have a few hours a day, or a few minutes, it is what you spend those minutes ON that determine how far you can go. It is all too tempting to come home, put on the slippers, go upstairs to the music room, and 'noodle' around for an hour or two. Sure, it's great relaxation, but just like golf, if all you ever do is go out to the course and hack away at the ball, you'll never progress. Spending time on the range, with a bucket of balls, and some quality time with a golf pro can do wonders for your game. But it's not as much FUN as playing 18 holes, is it?
Ear training is kind of like that... Interval recognition, rhythm recognition, chord recognition, chord theory. You don't learn that stuff AFTER you become pro. You MAKE the time to develop it, and then, all of a sudden, you realize you ARE good enough to go pro! It's nowhere near as fun as plonking away at a tune for an hour or so, but the more you do it, the LESS time you have to spend figuring out (or asking others to figure it out for you) the next tune you want to do.
And THAT equates to more fun in the future.
We should none of us be unwilling to learn something new. It's how we grow, how we avoid stagnation and boredom. But it comes at a small price... deferred gratification. Duty NOW, for the future 
Play a little less now, play a LOT more later! 
1) Who said we were better at it? I said we full-timers had an advantage...
2) I think its an evolutionary thing. Sure, I could do alot of this stuff in college, but to this day, I find from playing as much as I do I understand more as I go along...
3) Wow...There's not a thing wrong with asking for charts to a song. Maybe its convenience, maybe its something else but to shorten the leg work isn't a negative.
4) Substitution chords have been around for a long time...some times there really cool, most times they seem to be substitution chords for the sake of substitution chords, if you know what I mean...
5) Some guys don't use charts...ever. (These people are freaks.) I use charts for 99% of my stuff...Do I really need it, probably not...I probably don't even turn the pages when I'm doing some tunes, but its a bit of a security blanket I guess...Its just nice knowing its there...
6) Donnie, what's this about a chicken hat? Do you have your name embossed on them? Do you give them out at all of your gigs or just certain ones?
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Bill in Dayton
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