[Darth-Apple]

There have no doubt been many good musicians that don't know how to read music, and yet many music teachers and instructors today focus on it first and foremost. Personally, I have learned several musical instruments, but never had the patience to learn to read the music. (Yes, I can read chord charts. The rest is stuff I do by ear. )

I think that part of the reason behind that is because the best way to teach someone is to give them the resources to learn on their own, and the easiest way to do that is to teach people how to read music. However, many great musicians skip the process of learning how to read music and jump straight into learning the instrument. 

What is your opinion? Do you know how to read music? Do you find it to be an essential skill for any musician to have? 

[SpookyZalost]

I do not know how to read music.
Give me a chord chart and the song to listen to, and I'll figure it out anyway

however I also have Chromestetic synesthesia and can visually see music, so I also learn by mimicking the colors and patterns I see, coupled with perfect pitch and well... yeah.

I am not a professional musician and mostly just learn songs I like via guitar, bass, piano, and most recently by singing them at karaoke when available.

so honestly, no, I do not think you need to know how to read music to learn it.

That being said as I understand, being able to read music makes learning it far easier since you can just pick up sheet music which contains the entirety of how to play a song including notes, pacing, progression, etc.

[Thomas]

I know how to read music but some of the best musicians I can think of do not.