Originally posted by burnfire9
... Being in a rock band doesn't require it...

If you ever hope to make a living as a musician, you will have to learn to read. The odds of 'making it' as a solo artist, or as a member of a band, are roughly equivalent to the odds of getting signed as a pro hockey player.

Most pros work as teachers, contract musicians, or as studio 'session' players. [u]All[/u] of these jobs require sight-reading charts, so that someone else's music can be reproduced accurately.

And it should go without saying, that writing music means writing it!

No, I don't read well. I was studying trumpet in school many years ago, but I never made the effort to carry that skill over to guitar. I haven't used it, so I lost it.