Depends on the gig. On Bluegrass gigs, no. My old strolling gigs, of course no. When I do the “Classical” gigs, I have charts/sheet music. Some of it I do have memorized, but often I am familiar enough with the tune so I can skim through the Music. Same with Jazz/Pop Standards, keep the charts & skim for some. When I go to the out of town convention things, like CMSA, I definitely read the charts. I can’t memorize all that stuff in a couple of days. I think I can play with expression/soul with or without the Music.
I like charts sometimes because I don’t want to limit the tunes I (we) play to only tunes I have memorized. Sometimes charts are handy to refer to handwritten (scribbled) notes on the arrangements.
Joe B
Bookmarks