Eggs, bread, milk.... F#

Science nerd time. 

Muscle memory is, as my 15-year-old would say, "Pretty rad".  It's one of those things we all use every single day and yet, never even give a second thought to how amazing it is that our brains do this.  I'm sure you have at least a vague notion of how muscle memory works, but I thought it would be useful to actually look at an explanation.

This is from Wikipedia:

"Muscle memory is a form of procedural memory that involves consolidating a specific motor task into memory through repetition, which has been used synonymously with motor learning. When a movement is repeated over time, a long-term muscle memory is created for that task, eventually allowing it to be performed with little to no conscious effort. This process decreases the need for attention and creates maximum efficiency within the motor and memory systems. Examples of muscle memory are found in many everyday activities that become automatic and improve with practice, such as riding a bicycle, typing on a keyboard, entering a PIN, playing a musical instrument,^[1] poker,^[2] martial arts or even dancing."

We have just started teaching the aforementioned 15-year-old how to drive, so these days when I drive around with him in the passenger seat, I find myself narrating every little thing I'm doing and why. You truly don't realize just how much of driving is 100% automatic until you're trying to teach someone else how to do it.  It's incredibly daunting to put yourself in the shoes of someone who has to actually think, "Now I put my foot on the brake, now I start the car, now I check my mirrors...."  And yet, an unmentionable number of years ago, these were all things I had to consciously think about. 

It's the same with piano. Every new piece is like learning to drive a car all over again (albeit with a basic knowledge of what all the buttons do). To be honest, I have a love/hate relationship with this beginning stage. Sitting at the piano in front of a brand new piece of music can feel like staring up from the bottom of an impossibly high mountain.  

The thing that keeps me coming back time and time again is knowing that if I keep at it, there will come a point where I'll be able to play it without giving a second thought where my fingers need to go. They'll just do it on their own!  For me, the moment that starts to happen feels like magic every single time. 

Now, here's the downside to muscle memory, especially for someone with a notoriously wandering brain. 

"This process decreases the need for attention and creates maximum efficiency within the motor and memory systems."

Yeah, so this is kind of problematic sometimes. Take this current piece for example. The first page, I have down cold. I can probably play it upside down and with eyes closed (note to self: This might make for an interesting challenge). The second page,  I'm still working on getting there. But right now,  I'm slowing down the whole thing so I can play through the entire piece at the same tempo.

My brain is on auto-pilot with the first page anyway, so between that and playing the piece slowly,  it's now completely free to wander about and think about any number of things other than what my fingers are doing. And a-wandering it goes. 

I was taking video two days ago and totally messed something easy up that derailed the whole piece because, no lie, I was MAKING A GROCERY LIST IN MY HEAD. 

Apparently a remedy for this is to force my brain to focus on other things about my playing. I've been trying this and also trying to tame my flyaway pinky with this extra brain-space that has become freed up. Unfortunately, every time I think about what that finger is up to, I crash the car again.  So, focusing on other things related to the piece and my playing is a work in progress for me. 

Here's an updated video of where I am with the Sinfonia right now. I'm practicing at the 160 goal-tempo, but still struggling with some fingerings and consistently playing through with no mistakes.  In this particular video, I got so giddy when I finally made it through the arpeggios on the second page, that I completely stumbled on a part I normally play right through. (wandering brain again!)