You'd think, but I'd suggest the bulk of collaborative music making throughout human history was done without notated music. But it's undoubtedly a massive time

You'd think, but I'd suggest the bulk of collaborative music making throughout human history was done without notated music. But it's undoubtedly a massive timesaver if all the musicians going into a collaborative session know what they're supposed to play ahead of time. I certainly can't imagine it being possible to perform something like a Mahler symphony or Wagner opera without the vast majority of performers being competent readers of sheet music.