I don't disagree with your points, however not having a reasonable level of sight reading inhibits you from learning some of the more dense pieces (e.g. Bach In

I don't disagree with your points, however not having a reasonable level of sight reading inhibits you from learning some of the more dense pieces (e.g. Bach Inventions and Sifonias) in a timely manner. Developing that skill allows you to get pieces under your hands (and in time packed into your lizard brain), so you can then focus on the musical expression. You should think of Jacques software as a type of 'touch typing program' for the piano. Instant feedback allows you to build up the 'this means that' in terms of what you see on the sheet music and what your hands are supposed to do. Learning to sight read, even to a very basic degree, always seems to be a big hit and miss for many of the people I've known over the years learning piano. For me, being able to expedite the process of developing that skill so I can practice effectively, in order to be able to focus on the actual music is a huge boon! Less time trudging through the snow and more time learning and playing pieces! When you see a pro performer crank out 2 hours of Chopin from memory, they always had to start with the music. It's a core competency for certain styles, and Jacques software would build that competency quicker due to the hyper short feedback loop (like the red/green/refactor loop). Yet, there are plenty of real world examples of performers and composers who can't read music, there's nothing wrong with that, it just depends on what you want to do (and I want to play Bach Inventions, again!). EDIT: I'd just like to add that my previous piano teacher was both very highly skilled in both classical and jazz disciplines, and he was of the strong opinion that it's not an either/or proposition, but commented that to not have experience in both camps hindered ability if you were a typical working musician.