Playing a musical instrument engages multiple cognitive functions simultaneously, including motor, visual, and auditory processing, temporal-spatial working memory, and sensorimotor integration. To investigate the learning habits of beginner students and their relationships to memory and cognition in music learning contexts, a constructivist grounded theory study was conducted in an Australian secondary state school (n = 15), exploring the conceptual bases for skill-building, memory formation, and functional performance on a musical instrument. Observations were conducted through a theoretical lens grounded in cognition and memory: the multiple memory systems framework. Analysis revealed interactions between explicit and implicit memory processes, with particular emphasis on working memory and automaticity. Three core themes emerged, forming the Multiple Memory Music Learning (MMML) framework: (1) automatic music learning, which demonstrated that automaticity can occur as a short-term memory function; (2) contextual music learning, which highlighted the influence of context-dependent factors on performance; and (3) learning sequencing and attentional behavior, which describes how instructional order affects outcomes. The MMML framework offers a novel perspective on the cognitive and memory processes underpinning instrumental music education, with implications for pedagogy, curriculum design, and theories of skill acquisition.