They say a mind is a terrible thing to waste, but for me, a waist is a terrible thing to mind!

Paul

If I figure out how to do it, I'll post it here first. Then I'll start training my finger picks!

Paul

Heck I've always suffered from CRS then. One of my high school teachers told me I had a Swiss cheese for a brain. This particular instructor couldn't ever figure out what I could or would be able to remember. I knew what I could learn, I just couldn't remember what it was. But back then I called it DRD or Don't Remember Diddlysquat.

My mother would never have let me use that "other" word. ;-)

Jim Fawcett said:

Seems like "Reading Glasses Memory" might help me more. I remember where my muscles are,but if I can just train my reading glasses to come to me whenever I'm awake.....

Paul

I have a suspicion that there is some sort of counting goimg on when I play too, some sort of feedback between the number of fret bumps on your finger and the brain.

I've just picked up a 6+ instrument, and for almost the first time in 30 years am having to retrain myself, invariable undershooting by a fret whenever I cross the 6+.

Don't like the three frets so close either, doesn't sound quite right somehow with the extra fret sounding on a slide.

Did play 'Black Eyed Dog' and thought the 6+ added something even though it was never played. So not all bad, but doubt it will last and I'll be back to the diatonic.

john p

Sad.............. but so true!

What is?

Jim, what was it we were talking about..................?

JohnH

(Completly Right............... Sometimes!)

CRS occurs for me just about everyday, folkfan. It's an on going thing and I just have to deal with it. I know that alot of people have it and don't want to admit to it. It's "Can't Remember Sh--". So if you have it, it's best to come out of the closet and admit it. You'll feel so much better.

I love it when I struggle for an hour or so with playing some tricky thing, and I just can't for the life of me seem to make it click or get my fingers to do something....and then I go to bed and the next day as if by magic i can play it right off the bat. I like to think I got sprinkled with fairy dust while I was sleeping.

(but then there are also times when I go to bed and then still can't play it the next day... D'OH !!!)

Randy, a pretty good definition of muscle memory as I understand it, is given in WikiPedia which says.....

Muscle memory has been used synonymously with motor learning , which is a form of procedural memory that involves consolidating a specific motor task into memory through repetition. When a movement is repeated over time, a long-term muscle memory is created for that task, eventually allowing it to be performed without 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, playing a melody or phrase on a musical instrument, playing video games, [ 1 ] or performing different algorithms for a puzzle cube .

Muscle memory is a popular term amongst string instrument players, especially beginners. But it's a misnomer.

If you are waiting for your muscles to remember where to put themselves on the fingerboard you may be waiting for a while! : ) It's brain memory right? Your brain tells your fingers, and the muscles in your fingers, where to go when to go how long to stay there and when to move to a new place.

I don't want my muscles to act independently. I want my brain to send signals to my fingers at the speed of light. "Reverse course we have a new and different idea!"

Get those synapses and neurotransmitters and

proprioceptors

http://www.lovinglife.org/brain.htm