learning by ear, or learning the dots?
hehe.. 
Learning by ear.
Err, I mean…learning by dots.
Eardots? What the…
Dotear? Do tear? Go whine? Hmm.
Greetings,
G. 
Learning the dots by ear.
Left brain likes the dots. Right brain likes to hear.
Do I have that right? Or is it left?
I think each person has a preferred learning style.
I seem to be content reading music because I prefer visual learning.
I find it difficult to learn by hearing something
I like Dots when I go to the movies.
I find I can learn a tune by music, being visual like Doug Tipple, but if I really want to master a particular tune, I’d better memorize it and really know it by ear.
I sight read better with whistle. On fiddle I sound like crud unless I really know the tune in my head before I play it.
I learn by tongue.
Bah, you’re all a bunch of eardiots anyways! 
Yeah-- what she said.
If you’re at a session and they play a tune you don’t know, reading music is a huge advantage. YOu can ask the name of the tune, look it up at home and learn it so you’re prepared the next time around. Some trad sessions look askance at dots at the session, but for others it’s common practice.
What’s best is having learnt.
'Ear Amar, if there’s no spoon, how come you’re stirring and what are you stirring with, eh? eh?
hehehe…an appropriate answer!!
What’s better? To have loved and lost perhaps?
count me in.
What’s better—ears or dots? You tell me.
What’s better is beatin’ up on people who use dots, silly.