8/23/2026
Becoming a Great Sight Reader by Al Macy 2014 Kindle Edition
The full title of this book is “Becoming a Great Sight-Reader — or Not! Learn from my Quest for Piano Sight-Reading Nirvana.” The title of this book is way too long. I suggest shortened it to “How I Became a Great Sight Reader” or “How to Become a Great Sight Reader” which is slightly deceptive because the book does not tell one how to become a great sight reader. Reviewers felt made this book disingenuous. There is no such thing as Sight-Reading Nirvana because sight reading is a skill just like reading the printed word. If one does not practice a skill one will become worse.
The author Al Macy complains about his inability to sight read although he’s a brilliant jazz player. I think the author protests too much. He is correct when he says some people play better by ear and some people play better by sight reading. The Beatles could not read music when they first started out and it certainly never hurt them. I’m dependent on sight reading and I can’t play anything by memory.
The author speculates he may have dyslexia, so he may never be a great sight reader. Although it was interesting to understand his process, I felt sorry for him, forcing himself to sight read for two hours a day. His back began to hurt him for the piano bench, and took ibuprofen which is harmful for the stomach.
This reminded me of reading the book that Haruki Murakami wrote about running, What I Talk About When I Talk About Running. Murakami was harming himself by forcing his body to run too far. At the same time, Murakami doubled down and said he would not take any advice telling him to back off. I felt it was heartbreaking that he wouldn’t take the good advice of well wishers and fans.
Most of the pieces Macy played to improve his sight reading were Hymns because he had to obtain large amounts of music that he could only play once. Hymns were plentiful and available for free from both the library and local churches. Macy would quickly memorize the piece and then stop reading it. This might be his problem. Why would his brain actually want to learn to read music since he has no need of it in order to play the piece?
Hymns are written to be sung. Therefore they’re not as complicated as the Jazz music that Macy plays. In the book there is debate on whether it’s better to look at the individual notes or just memorize the intervals. I’m a fan of remembering the intervals because it’s faster. You want to be able to sight read as quickly as possible so you can keep time to the music even if it’s a piece you’re unfamiliar with.
He also goes back in time to say that his parents should have given him formal piano lessons when he was four years old because he believes that would have made him a better sight reader. I don’t believe giving a child lessons in something in which they have no aptitude can make a difference.
I became proficient at reading at an early age because my mother read to me and had me follow along with the words as she read. But that didn’t help me with spelling or other things associated with reading. I learned to speed read in junior high. Speed reading was a fad in the 70s by moving your finger up and down the page to read faster. It was considered that moving your eyes from side to side was a waste of time. My ADD brain likes getting boring text over with quickly by speed reading. But when it comes to literature that I enjoy I have a completely different attitude. I like to read slowly. I prefer to have things read to me. It seems an easier way to retain the information and it’s just more pleasant. I love sight reading because otherwise I’d have no way to play the piano at all. I had piano lessons as a child, but I stopped when I entered high school. I had completely forgotten how to read notes but I’m getting better at it again. Music Teacher would be interested in this book.
The book suggests several other books that are better for helping people to learn to read music. Other books: Note by Note, I Really Should Be Practicing, Never Too Late, and The Inner Game of Music.
On Kindle the book is listed as being 120 pages, but much of it is pictures of score sheets. The book is much shorter book in terms of the text, but the cost is reasonable. The Kindle edition also contains hyperlinks sound bites of Macy playing the piano. His playing sounds wooden. Maybe because he is sight reading music that he’s only played once there’s no fluidity?
I bought this book in 2014 when it has been first published. It sat in my Kindle for years until I decided to read it because I’m taking piano lessons now.
Macy Makes Magic 