@richrf,
richrf;95932 wrote:It is interesting that we refer to it as muscle memory. I know that some musicians and artists are said to have a natural feeling.
You may be referring to something different. To be naturally, innately good at music or whatever other art is a complex, multidisciplinary set of skills that includes artistic inspiration, understanding and mastery of the medium, and the requisite fine motor prowess.
Muscle memory refers to something much more specific that is not confined to playing the piano. It's the "unconscious" performance of a complex motor task. We all do it -- when you button your shirt, brush your teeth, sign your name, scratch your head, pick your nose, whatever, you're doing it without consciously paying attention to the technical performance of this task.
On the other hand, if tomorrow you decide to sign up for an adult ed class in Chinese calligraphy, then you WILL be paying close attention to this motor task.
So even for an amateur musician, playing something enough times induces muscle memory, i.e. you can do it without thinking.
There is a neurological basis for it, which I understand is attributed to spinal motor neurons rather than the cerebral cortex, just as a deep tendon reflex (like when your patellar tendon is struck with a hammer) is a reflex loop that does not involve the brain.
