not a poll... ie. the only way to respond is with words.

[kingrob76]

I almost NEVER play without having the notes in front of me, memorized or not. I have a daily routine (over an hour) I could do in my sleep, but when I don't have the notes in front of me I am not as focused mentally and seem to get bored more easily. If I take a break from playing, let's say for a month with no playing, the hardest part for ME is reading the music and pushing down the right buttons at the right time, not playing the horn and making good sounds.

[bloke]

When reading and playing something like a Bach "gigue" (particularly at something resembling an appropriate historical or perceived-to-be-correct-historical dance tempo), there are musical skills, but (ref: "the thinking that goes on in the background while playing") it also occurs to me that my (de facto) typing skills some into play...

...and it's the subset of typing skills whereby someone is talking to me at regular conversational speed, and I'm busting my bohonkus keeping up with them at the keyboard. (I do this for *Mrs. bloke, occasionally. She mostly insists on doing her own typing, but - when she's faced with some sort of immediate deadline - we both know who can knock out a typewritten page faster.)

Of course - as a gigue (or other type of piece which just keeps on keepin' on) becomes more familiar, the typing becomes less frantic (as memory kicks in).

Additionally (with brisk contrabass tuba playing - as I prefer that the technical not be apparent, regarding the musical) it's not uncommon for me to use alternate button-mashing, and those chosen alternates eventually (with repetition) become memorized, and - if they fail to make it to my memory - they're penciled in.

(...as the OPPOSITE of the header topic has now become the new topic)

* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y17eYuxsf2s (no-sheet-music jam-session tribute to Mrs. bloke)...Maybe (??) should have kept that thing...It got the funkiness sound - on recordings - of anything I ever owned. https://www.horn-u-copia.net/instrument ... elicon.jpg

[Rick Denney]

I read a lot of books (words, not music). While a write when needed and consider myself competent but not artistic, I really enjoy the words written by those who are as good at writing as I am at reading and appreciating what they have written.

I'm not a composer, and if I'm going to play an instrument, I'd much rather be using that time to explore and express someone else's compositional genius rather than my certain incompetence.

Rick "a man has got to know his limitations" Denney

[Doc]

I do this and make my students do this:

Play simple tunes by ear, without music, then transpose them to various keys.
I find this exercise to be one of the top confidence-builders in a student and a top factor in developing overall musicality.

Last week, a sixth-grader was thrilled when she discovered she could play "Happy Birthday" in the key of E flat without music.

An advanced high-schooler was excited when he played a hymn tune he liked in four keys, including E.

Since organized education at all levels demands so little of students, almost all students I have encountered--in Finance, Statistics, brass playing, or otherwise, in 40+ years of teaching--welcome a challenge and almost always rise to meet it. Seeing a student achieve the joy of discovery is just as rewarding for me today as it was over 40 years ago.

I’ve been preaching this for years.

[Doc]

What percentage of your playing time do you spend playing your instrument without a book in front of your face or without playing exercises or tunes/solo pieces that you have memorized?

Quite a bit at home and most of the time on the job. Even the brass band parts become guides instead of intense reading.

And when playing solos, etc., it is mandatory to be long off the ink before a public performance. Otherwise, the ink is a crutch. Internalize it, make it your own, then share the message in your own words. Free expression unencumbered by paper.