What do you experience when you listen to great music?
Hearing a beautiful or powerful melody snags our emotions. When those bass drums are thumping, we can also feel the notes. Seeing the flash of instruments or the expression on a singer’s face adds to our experience. It’s a feast for the senses!
But what if hearing music actually triggered a sense like sight more literally?
This actually happens for a tiny group of people (just 2% to 4% of us) who are gifted with synesthesia. In essence, their brains are wired a little differently: When one of their senses is activated—hearing, for example—they can see or even taste the sounds. When people see sounds, it’s called chromesthesia.
It might sound a little woo-woo, but synesthesia is absolutely real. There’s even an American Synesthesia Association! And each individual’s experience is very consistent. If someone sees purple when they hear the note D, it’s always going to be purple.
It doesn’t even have to be music for some people with synesthesia to see sounds. The alarm clock, the sound of running water, or even the sizzle of bacon can evoke light or color.
The condition has inspired a number of musicians and composers, from Duke Ellington to Leonard Bernstein to Mozart. While conducting, Franz Liszt once famously instructed the orchestra to play “a little bluer, if you please!”
There have been many efforts to depict chromesthesia artistically so that the rest of us can get a glimpse of that fascinating world. For example, in this video, artist Christina Even paints a song by Moses Sumney.
Chromesthesia is truly an amazing way to experience music. Wouldn’t you love to know what Mozart saw as he composed?