Hi Uncle Tom, Let's see if I can add something to the other posts above. Start by taking a tune you already know very well. One that you can hum in your head already. Now start with the first phrase, play it over and over until you have a grasp of it. Now keep adding onto it until you have the first part complete. You're weaning yourself off the sheet music. Soon you'll see that once you have the tune memorized, you'll find it a hard to look at the sheet music and play.

Another idea is if you have a program like Cakewalk (you can download a free version) you can take a midi tune and play it slooowly, taking the tune apart, until you can play it up to speed. It just takes practice, you're teaching your brain another way to learn. Once you know the tune your body will take over and the tune just seems to come out on its own, at least that's how it is for me!

I can't sight read music quickly, I have to transpose the notes to fiddle tab, but if it's a difficult song it helps to give me a jump start on it. Keep practicing! Cheers, Nancy