My wife is a piano teacher and can sight read and play pretty wonderfully to written music (but maybe not as well as in her college days). She just doesn't have to gift/desire/drive to improvise -- but her ear is excellent.

If her students want to learn a "pop" song, they go to youtube and listen to it and within about 10 seconds she is playing along like she knew the song all her life.

Ask her to play a tune (the flintstones theme song) and she will have it going in a very short while. I am of the opinion that most trained musicians who have a good ear are mostly like her. Not everyone is that interested in improvisational stuff.

However if they can't pick things out by ear (sort of like me) then they are not complete musicians. But if they still enjoy music, that is fine with me.


Now at bandcamp: Crows Say Vee-Eh @ bandcamp or soundcloud: Kevin @ soundcloud