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I recalled a French tuba solo, today, that I had heard quite a few times, but never played.

The euphonium (French tuba-like, and particularly this one - with it's huge bell interior real estate) was already out today - from playing several bass trombone parts at a church gig, so I sat down (I don't own the music to that piece) thought about how the piece sounded, realized that it was in F, and played all the way through it (It's one of those slow/fast formula pieces). There are a couple of (duh: French) French sixth chord arpeggios in that piece (and I certainly had to think about those as I played what was in my head), but most of the rest of the piece sort of "played itself" for me.

Now, I think I would like to buy the music, look at the composer's phrase markings/dynamics, see if there were any wrong notes and actually go back and (truly) master/"own" the piece.

...so I guess this is one of those times when aural/mind familiarity allowed someone to (well, sort of) skip levels, 1, 2, and 3...

...because even though a couple of the passages weren't rendered with panache (not the first time through), I guess (??) I already (again: sort of) have it memorized...
(with technically mastery - in this case - "chasing after" memorization...but - once accomplished - approaching the stage of "owning" the piece).

I WONDER (??) if this might be a really good way to learn a piece:
- Listen to it enough times to aurally/mentally "know" it.
- "Pick it out" on the instrument (much as guitar and keyboard players ROUTINELY do), and
- (finally) Look at the actual sheet music, and add more of (the rest of) the composer's express wishes/dictates.

yes?
no?

scales: as a child
After "reading" them (guitar, tuba, trumpet, whatever) a few times, I realized that - until I tossed the piece of paper in the trash and "picked them out" for myself, I wouldn't OWN them (and scales MUST be owned, and not just memorized - for them to be of any real use to a musician).

I´ll totally agree with You on a "listening until familiar with the song" approach.
It´s certainly great if You can sort-of hum along with the recording or even on your own.

However, rather than trying to study the piece based on what I heard, MY next step would be to read the sheet music along with the recording(s).
Simply to make sure that "my ears" aren´t fooling me.
In my experience, the brain will pick up the wave signals collected by the ears and will try to make sense of that information.
If necessary, it might add or substract stuff to make the musical situation "more plausible".
Sort-of like optical illusions or magic tricks, which are based on typical interpretations of the brain to fill gaps in what it perceived.

I've always believed that its no secret how the music is supposed to sound. Listen to multiple recordings. Try to make your instrument sound like that. Then, look at the wishes/dishes of the actual music.

But seriously, in the age of YouTube and Amazon music, there's almost no excuse to not know how something is supposed to sound.

Know your Shirt!