"Context" boys and girls, "Context".

I play the odd amateur musical here and there (about 25 of 'em in the last 7 years) and you can bet that if I couldn't READ I would never get the gig. I love musicals, they are sooo much fun and very challenging; time signature changes bar on bar sometimes, key signature changes sometimes every 4 or 8 bars, listening to the other musicians AND the performers on stage (who I often can't see) AND above all, watching the conductor all while blowin' my horn. And I get it easy - I will never understand how the pianists do their parts, I only ever have ONE note to play at a time, they might have EIGHT.

BUT, I also play every Wednesday at a local beach, improvising over old standards and newer (not new, but newer) songs that the crowd like.

Both contexts are entertainment for the punters and both use different skill sets. I'm just grateful my improvisational skills have reached the point where they don't throw rotten tomatoes at me!

I know people who can sight read "fly spots", and I know people who can play by ear and improvise like virtuoso's. The depressing part is some of them are the same people. Many of 'em are only kids (under around 25), all of 'em are musicians.

--=-- My credo: If it's worth doing, it's worth overdoing - just ask my missus, she'll tell ya laugh --=--
You're only paranoid if you're wrong!