I'm about four years into playing so complete beginner nowhere near my 10000 hours yet...lol... Due to age diminished mental capacity (age related lol) and eyesight i don't play direct from scores... I have a good tutor who is also a great player I see him on an adhoc basis, i won't do skype lessons as i feel the benefit of a tutor is personal i feel a lot is (can be) lost on line. I can take the basics from a score but cant read fast enough to play a tune and i don't know exactly what i am asking in this thread but feel I am playing alone to often and missing out on the social side of music...I guess we all have been over the last year....My usual routine is to buy the score, transpose for tenor in the original key, and write the notes in letter format above the notation so as I can see it clearly. I then copy the lyrics of the song in word and download the original tune from you tube in an mp3 format to use as a backing track which essentially is the only way I can understand beat rhythm and tempo. I usually play middle of the road music and have 2 mates who also play this way but we don't meet that often anymore...For some strange reason i seem to have stumbled upon Glen Miller, lol, its so different than my usual genre I was trying to get "Me and Bobby Mc gee" completed and trying to learn that. I think I like rock sax as it seems less complex and trying to play to tempo has enhanced my fingering technique, breathing, and has got me to the point where I am. I guess the main issue is I don't know where I am playing wise and following the path I have I can't play in a small group and have no grades to establish what I need to learn; Aside from that the system works well. I guess GAS materialises in many forms, I don't need anymore gear but feel I am missing out socially and for me I want to be the best saxophonist I can be, do i need to read music to be able to achieve this? At the risk of upsetting most people on here I find Jazz to chaotic or so I thought, my journey started just wanting to play middle of the road whole tunes/ harmonics but afteer four years my journey only just seems to be beginning. I have found a few (jazzy) tracks that I like and am currently working on Chatanooga choo choo, which I guess is technically swing....This brings in the issue of playing on the upbeat, I have followed my usual routine and have the backing track, score and lyrics but would like to understand the concept / theory of music and understand timing and rhythm through the score. Both my mates just use letters to play but I feel lost that way so I write the notes on the score in the hope that I will get an understanding of note duration, rhythm, tempo and may be able to learn (basic) music that way...and give me a chance of playing with others...I guess I would get laughed at if i turned up with a score with notes written above but as a 55 year old don't know if I have left it to late to read music now....I feel that I am at a crossroads, I will never be a pro musician but don't know what I need to be the best I can be. Time for a lesson I guess.....