I don't know if any of you guys play instruments, but if any of you do, do you find it a bit difficult to learn how to play songs you like by ear? I tend to find it a bit difficult, but that's also part of the fun, I think. Trying to figure out what notes are being played and practicing that way is just so much more enjoyable. And once you memorize it, you won't even need the sheet music. Training your ears for music is important.

I play keyboard at a very amateur level but I can usually figure out most simple melodies by ear. But with a keyboard you need to then also figure out the harmony and for me that is near impossible especially if it is counterpoint or if the chords are inverted or augmented. Plus I can't really play a whole song by ear, just a basic melody. I would think it would be easier on instruments that only require a single melodic line, especially if said line is also usually only a single note at a time.

For drums and bass, which were the two instruments I played, it was fairly necessary. Tabs sites are really only reliable for guitar, often, and it frequently amounted to my ear being better than the person transcribing the music, anyway.
Since sheet music also pretty much only exists in modern music for the guitar, a lot of the time, I couldn't even resort to that. Plus, sheet music is friggin' expensive.

Attempting to follow, by ear, bassists I admired and respected, like Flea, Cliff Burton, or a few great local jazz bassists I knew, gave me a great deal of edge, and also left me wide open to do whatever I wanted with it once I got a hold of it, which is a necessary freedom that playing by rote can occasionally strip from you.

For drums it was absolutely essential to strap on a good set of noise canceling headphones, close my eyes, and follow the leader, because otherwise you have to invent as you go along, and quite often you aren't as good as the person who came before you, and you will have nothing to test yourself on, otherwise.
It also breeds a healthy respect for your peers, and their work, to attempt to be true to it.

For a guitarist in the craft it is absolutely essential to be able to pick up a lick by ear, because a bassist or a drummer can have the leeway to be creative or even lazy (as you please), but people notice if the guitar is off point.