To read or not read music, that is the question.

My 2 cents:
Can read both. Mostly use tab when available but standard conveys so much more information. Using tab is a lazy thing for me. I mostly try to play originals so my use of either is not heavy.

I read both, but I usually prefer to use tab out of the two. I don't depend on notation or tab much though. I prefer to work them out myself. If I get stuck on a riff I might peak at a tab online for a little direction but that's about it. Most of the songbooks that I order are in notation and that's about the only time I use it. I can read and play tab like a book but notation I tend to spend more time on because in conveys more and I get hung up on getting it just right... Which is the reason I don't like notation personally. It seems to lose some of the feel, if you know what I mean.  If I'm working on something original, I always write it out in tab for future refrence and never use notation.

I studied piano from age ten and learned to read standard notation. I have no problem with it for keyboard instruments.
I started to learn guitar when I was 20 and started with chord positions. I then learned guitar tab by buying a songbook that had both notations in it so I could compare the two.

I discovered when I was about 12 or 13 that I didn't need the music to play most of the pop songs I heard at the time and started to play them all (on piano) "by ear". My piano teacher regularly got annoyed with me because I spent my whole time playing Beatles by ear rather than Beethoven by the book.

I gave up guitar when I was about 26 and didn't play again until last year when I bought a new acoustic and started playing again.
For some reason I can't explain I can usually hear the chords in a song and know what they are, unless it is a complicated chord progression when I need to listen more than once. This probably goes back to my school days where my music teacher trained me well to listen to music. We had to listen to a melody or chord progression and be able write it down.
I tend to work things out for myself by ear on guitar but will use chords or tabs to save time listening if the song is more complex.
I wouldn't describe myself as a "natural" guitar player. I'm more at home on the keyboard.
By the way, the gap where I didn't play guitar was 30 years. It has taken a year to get back to near where I was when I quit.
Hope this information is useful.

Like many of the "geezers" here I learned to read notation at the piano bench as a youngster. As for tab, it is great if you are trying to figure out exactly the way someone did a certain line, or a certain chord, because it gives you instrument-specific information that standard notation can't. I prefer standard notation for sight reading, or even just "chords-n-words" for jamming.

Move on to basic theory, and you'll lose that crutch pretty quick.

I started out with 3 chords my mom showed me and played by ear for quite a few years professionally (over 40) and learned to read both standard notation and finger picking I compose all my songs some I just make chord charts and others I arrange phrases and use notation to help other musicians on my recording sessions but I find its easier to video tape a practice or jam because creativity is spontaneous and there's no time to notate also the "feeling" and syncopation can be recalled easier by watching and listening,I think notation and reading have there place of importance but any lead sheet is left to the interpretation of the person reading it and is not exact it is only a guide

Thanks Steve glad you enjoyed the tunes,I think a collaborated composition would be a cool idea but the snag is chopro is not equipped to add notes only chords and lyrics I'm not sure how it could be accomplished, I have seen this idea of lead sheets in another thread but like photos it would have to be uploaded to flickr or another host site so a link to the sheet could be provided interesting idea

I read both standard notation and tab.  While I learned standard notation 35 or so years ago I only started using tab a few years ago.  I was quite young when I learned standard notation so I don't remember how difficult it was to learn.  I like tab because I am a visual learner and tab shows be the positions along the neck.  I am constantly altering the positions because the more ways that I can play a piece the better I become.  Also this prepares me for improvisation.  I understand what you meant when you wrote about how those who read standard notation tend to play the score exactly as written.  I have learned that when I practice a piece of music to the point that I can play it without thinking I am able to change the complete voicing of the piece.  When I do not have a score practiced to the point of muscle memory I am not as able to breath life into it.  One reason that I have grown to enjoy learning a piece through tab is that the duration of the note is not defined as precisely and I grow more intuned to the relationships of the notes to each other and the note durations most often seem to naturally fall into place.  While learning through standard score I start off by being locked into the timing of the notes and I find this to be a very left brained experience.

I think reading music (standard notation) is a great tool for any musician to have.
Can you survive without reading a single note on a piece of paper? Yes.
However, with that said, there are a lot of professional situations where they
will simply put a piece of music in front of you and expect you to read it.

Guitarists for the most part don't like to read sheet music. And in fact, it is
a little bit harder for guitar than other instruments because there are many
positions on the guitar where you can play the same note. But I do believe
reading music is important for any musician.

I can read. I'm not the best or the fastest at reading music, but I'm constantly
working on it. Trying to be able to read music without completely depending
on sheet music and losing any feel.

Regardless, with all that said. I think reading music is important, but the most
important tool for any musician is his/her ear.

-Mario

I can read both, however I used regular notation when I was playing the piano and now I use tab since I discovered the guitar. Tab is so much easier then regular music notation simply because it shows you exactly where the note is played on the guitar. I've never attempted regular music notation on the guitar simply because it only gives you the musical pitch, which can be played in a number of places. Plus whenever I want to learn a song I just jump on the net and the tab is usually just a click away.

I have not read all the posts, but reading (and writing) music notation is a real asset if you want to work in a band with other (musical) instruments.  TAB is fine for guitarists, but a trumpet player or a piano player cannot be expected to read it!!!

Simply put: Don't be musically lazy!  Learn the LANGUAGE of music.  If you can at least speak the language of music ... you are in.  If you cant .............. :-(

As a guitar teacher, I hear this all the time: "Why do I have to learn music (theory/read)"?  The answer should be obvious!