How is playing music like riding a bicycle?

A wise man once said learning to play a new piece of music is akin to riding a bicycle.

When you ride a bicycle, you don't look at the tire where it meets the pavement, do you? Of course not! You look to see where you are going. When reading music, you need to apply the same principle - don't look at the note you are playing, rather look at the notes coming up.

If you are looking at the note you are playing, it's probably too late to prepare yourself for the next note or series of notes. You should always be looking ahead to what you are going to play.

Some things that will help:

1. Look at the first measure and know exactly what you are going to play before you even start the song. Get your fingers in position so there is no guesswork. Once you start playing, begin looking at the second measure and preparing yourself for those notes

2. Rests and whole notes are your friends. It is hard to keep an even tempo when you are playing by yourself, but you should strive to do so. Let every whole note get 4 complete beats....let every half note get 2 beats, and let every rest get it's full time value. Use those pauses in the music to look ahead at the next note or series of notes.

3. Play at a slow tempo while learning the music. Slowing things down will give you even more time to look ahead at what's coming up. After you have mastered the piece of music (or whatever you are working on) then you can speed it up.

4. Every once in a while, take out a new piece of music and try sight reading it. Force yourself to try something new - play it slowly and concentrate on not making any mistakes. This type of practice is all about looking ahead and if you do this frequently, you'll find it easier to do each time.