Classical Piano Note Reading

Let's talk about the typical method that students learn the notes on the musical staff. The classic one is that the lines on the treble clef spell out "every good boy does good". Yes, even I as a youngster was taught that way. Here's the problem with that though. When an experienced musician plays their instrument by reading notes on the musical staff, your mind actually does not have time to think about, react to, realize what a note is. You don't have time to start reciting "every good boy does good!" In short, all that happens is that the notes on the staff essentially triggers what finger to play.

So how should you learn piano note reading then? My opinion, is just basically rote, no gimmicks, no tricks, no hints, you just have to simply memorize for example that the top line is "f", the bottom line is "e". Yes, you do need to be able to recognize what line is what, what piano note is what, just without the gimmicks and hints. But when you play the music, there is no thinking involved as far as identifying this or that, it's a purely visual ID that triggers your fingers to play that note. It's a visual and mechanical operation, not a "thinking" one.