Do you play by ear or by sight?
General mountain dulcimer or music discussions
Wow! Those are great answers so far. I am going to try playing by ear more. I didn't know that was something you could learn (thinking you either had it or you didn't), so will give it a try! I have always felt tied to my sheet music.
As for tab, I am just learning tab. I have only recently noticed more tab for guitar and it's helping as I learn more Travis Picking patterns. I like it, but only if it's below the standard music. I don't see how you can figure out the timing from just tab - unless you know the song ahead of time. When I originally took guitar lessons, it was then called Spanish guitar and similar to what they call Carter Style or flat-picking these days. You pick the melody and fill in with strummed chords. Later, I took lessons from a teacher who taught chord accompaniment with a bit of Travis Picking. Anyway, I've only noticed tabs recently when I wanted to learn more Travis Picking patterns and found a book (with CD again) and it had the tabs. Helpful in their place.
I can see where tabs would be more helpful for people who don't know SMN at all. If it gets people playing, then it's wonderful.