Fine motor skills are very important in playing musical instruments. It was found that muscle memory is relied on when playing the clarinet, specifically to help create special effects through certain tongue movements when blowing air into the instrument. Memorizing is done by muscles as a note is seen and recalled, its auditory pair is learned and is matched by fingers movements (a fine motor skill). When reproducing a motor action, you must have previous experience with it to memorize set actions. If there is no previous experience there will be no mental image of the motion, and therefore no actual movement.

Certain human behaviours, especially actions like the fingering in musical performances, are very complex and require many interconnected neural networks where information can be transmitted across multiple brain regions. It has been found that there are often functional differences in the brains of professional musicians, when compared to other individuals. This is thought to reflect the musician’s innate ability which may be fostered by an early exposure to musical training. An example of this is bimanual synchronized finger movements which play an essential role in piano playing. It is suggested that bimanual coordination can only come from years of bimanual training, where such actions become adaptations of the motor areas. When comparing professional musicians to a control group in complex bimanual movements, professionals are found to use an extensive motor network much less than those non-professionals. This is because professionals rely on a motor system that has increased efficiency, and therefore those who are less trained have a network which is more strongly activated. It is implied that the untrained pianists have to invest more neuronal activity to have the same level of performance that is achieved by professionals. This, yet again, is said to be a consequence of many years of motor training and experience which helps form a fine motor memory skill of musical performance.

It is often reported that when a pianist hears a well-trained piece of music it can involuntarily trigger synonymous fingering. This implies there is a coupling between the perception of music and the motor activity of those musically trained individuals. Therefore, one’s muscle memory in the context of music can easily be triggered when one hears certain familiar pieces. Overall, long-term musical fine motor training allows for complex actions to be performed at a lower level of movement control, monitoring, selection, attention, and timing. This leaves room for musicians to focus attention synchronously elsewhere, such as on the artistic aspect of the performance, without having to consciously control one’s fine motor actions.