I got up this morning to find two updates via Twitter which at first I saw as unrelated. On further thought, I believe they are closely linked...

The first was a great post titled "The Sad, Beautiful Fact That We're All Going To Miss Almost Everything". I strongly recommend reading the original article in full - it is a fascinating and thought-provoking read.

In very brief summary, the article comments on the reality that we will never come close to scratching the surface of taking in all that has been created before us. Even with the most dedicated effort, no one will ever have time in their life to read even a fraction of all the books which have been written, see all the films which have been made, hear all the music which has been composed.

As the article's title states, the sad, beautiful truth is that almost everything which has been created, even before we each grace the planet ourselves, we will never have the ability to take in.

A big realisation.

And the second post? An update from Mashable titled "Metal Band Teases New Drummer on Facebook To Create Buzz, Score Fans". This article refers to the steps taken recently by progressive metal band Dream Theater to create a "buzz" around the pending announcement of their new drummer, following the departure of Mike Portnoy (something I discussed back in September 2010).

Since Portnoy's announcement to leave the band, they have become more engaged in social media through the creation and active updating of personal band member Twitter accounts and an increased Facebook presence. In this latest move, the band's record label Roadrunner Records has encouraged fans to connect with the Dream Theater Facebook page and provide their email address, to receive updates on the announcement of the new drummer. A 3 minute video teaser is provided as a reward for signing up.

How did I see these two articles as related? It all comes back to what I see as a the most asked question of all musicians - how can my music cut through all the noise out there and find a listening audience?

Virtually every band now has a Twitter account, Facebook page and website to promote their music. Just like every other band competing to be heard.

The sad, beautiful truth is that so much of the world's great music will never find its audience. Unfortunately I don't conclude this article with the silver bullet, the solution to making the connection with a keen listener base. If I could, I would probably be sitting at my musical keyboard right now rather than the one that allows me to type these words!

Personally, I will continue to create, continue to connect and keep expressing myself. If what I'm doing connects with you, brilliant! Enjoy.

Muscle memory is an amazing thing. The process of repeating a movement so frequently that it is committed to your memory, such that you no longer need to think about the action, it can just happen.

I've often thought how great muscle memory is as a musician. When learning a new track you will listen to it over and over - in some cases hundreds of times - before you feel fluent in the performance, not needing to think your way from one note to the next. There's a real sense of freedom when you can breeze through a once difficult part of a performance, later reflecting on how much repetition went into getting it to sound so "easy".

Sometimes I'll sit down at the keyboard and without any effort play through a piece I haven't thought of in years. No sheet music, no accompaniment, no recent listening - just the action stored in the brain... and it can sound as good as it ever did.

Earlier this week a friend of mine, learning piano, commented on wanting to learn the track "Army" by Ben Folds. In particular he mentioned the left hand arpeggios playing so quickly at times (check for example 1 minute 15 seconds into the video below).  

At first this would require a lot of conscious effort, but in time would be done with ease - as this performance shows!

Just today I was playing Dark Knight (below), a composition of mine well over 10 years old. The piece starts with a fairly complex left hand part, which continues regularly to keep the tempo well after the right hand melody joins in. Having not played the track in quite some time, this once tricky left hand line came out again with relative ease. 

Muscle memory - a musician's best friend.