Head muscle progenitors are coordinately regulated by distinct regulatory mechanisms, including extrinsic signals from the adjacent tissues (e.g., WNTs, BMPs, FGFs) and intrinsic regulation by a set of transcription factors (e.g. Tbx1, Pitx2, MyoR, Capsulin and Isl1). Yet, our knowledge regarding how these two signaling mechanisms regulate head myogenesis remains obscure. The goal of this work was to reveal the molecular mechanisms underlying skeletal muscle development in the vertebrate head using the chick embryo as a model system. Specifically, we explore how the FGF signaling regulates the shift from proliferative myoblasts to differentiated myotubes. We carried out a detailed analysis of myogenic gene expression of cultured muscle progenitors, as well as in vivo gene/protein expression analyses. We show that FGFs, which are highly expressed in the ectoderm/endoderm, of the pharyngeal arches, are negatively correlated with myogenic differentiation. Furthermore, inhibition of FGF/ERK signaling, via SU5402 or ERK nuclear translocation, is sufficient to induce myogenic differentiation, possibly through the cell cycle arrest in vitro and in vivo. We suggest that ERK signaling pathway in the cranial neural crest cells is activated in response to FGF signals to inhibit muscle differentiation in a non-cell autonomous manner to ensure the timely activation of myogenesis.