# Synesthesia



## bagpipers

Synesthesia ,the confusion of the senses ,in music it usually means seeing tones in colors or shapes.Do any other composers or performers have this way of sensing,for obvious reasons it's enormously helpful for a composer!

This is how I see music and I'm skipping enharmonic's to make it simple.

A major- bright red
A minor- a darker burgundy
Bf major-light pastel red
Bf minor-very very dark red
B major-golden orange
B minor-darker gold 
C major- white
C minor-light pastel blue
Df major-off whiteish grey
C# minor-chrystal white glass color
D major-gold
D minor-darker gold
Ef major-light blue
D# minor-rusty bronze
E major-pastel blue
E minor dark deep blue
F major-dark blue
F minor-indigo or dark purple
F# major- black
F# minor jet black
G major-green
G minor-dark emerald green
A f major-light pastel red
G# minor-goldish green very dark


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## Manxfeeder

How does that work? When you play G major, do you actually see green everywhere, like you've just put on green glasses, or is it more of a feeling?

Also, can you tell what key a piece you're hearing is in by the color you're seeing, kind of like perfect pitch?


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## bagpipers

Manxfeeder said:


> How does that work? When you play G major, do you actually see green everywhere, like you've just put on green glasses, or is it more of a feeling?
> 
> Also, can you tell what key a piece you're hearing is in by the color you're seeing, kind of like perfect pitch?


Sort of ,it's more abstract than that,no I would not say I have perfect pitch.Synesthesia is more like an LSD trip or a abstract sensual experience it's hard to explain concretely.


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## hammeredklavier

in equal temperament?


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## Animal the Drummer

I don't have musical synaesthesia _per se_. I do however see letters and numbers in colour to some extent, and that influences how I see certain musical keys (e.g.the letter "A" for me is blue, so that's how I tend to think of A major).


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## bagpipers

hammeredklavier said:


> in equal temperament?


In context of instruments your used to hearing in there tuning's ,yes like all of music like those who say D minor is the sadest or C major the ultimate in joy ,change A from 440 to 432hz and it's a new shindig.


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## Manxfeeder

bagpipers said:


> Sort of ,it's more abstract than that,no I would not say I have perfect pitch.Synesthesia is more like an LSD trip or a abstract sensual experience it's hard to explain concretely.


I'll have to admit, I gave up on Messiaen because so much of what he writes about is what color he is seeing, and I realized I could never fully experience what he was trying to express. Do you see colors when listening to Scriabin or Messaien, and does that enhance your listening experience?


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## bagpipers

Manxfeeder said:


> I'll have to admit, I gave up on Messiaen because so much of what he writes about is what color he is seeing, and I realized I could never fully experience what he was trying to express. Do you see colors when listening to Scriabin or Messaien, and does that enhance your listening experience?


If I listened to those often which I don't really,I have listened to Scriabin a couple times on youtube ,Messaien not much really.But when I listen to the Moonlight sonata I see a cave of ice chrystals,does that make sense.


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## Manxfeeder

bagpipers said:


> If I listened to those often which I don't really,I have listened to Scriabin a couple times on youtube ,Messaien not much really.But when I listen to the Moonlight sonata I see a cave of ice chrystals,does that make sense.


It sounds like synesthesia is an individual phenomenon, so I'm guessing, for example, nobody sees the same colors that Messaien saw. Which means I'm okay listening to his music even though I don't see the colors he was seeing.


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## hammeredklavier

bagpipers said:


> I would not say I have perfect pitch.





bagpipers said:


> In context of instruments your used to hearing in there tuning's ,yes


doesn't make sense to me. You say you don't have perfect pitch. If you just hear the tonic of a scale, say, A, without a reference point to compare it to in your brain (eg. hear the note, C, as a reference at the time, knowing that it is C), how would you know that the tonic note is A? If you don't know the tonic of the scale is A, how would you know the scale in equal temperament is in A major/minor?


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## mikeh375

Manxfeeder said:


> It sounds like synesthesia is an individual phenomenon, so I'm guessing, for example, nobody sees the same colors that Messaien saw. Which means I'm okay listening to his music even though I don't see the colors he was seeing.


It's true that synesthesia is different in each person. I don't have it and love Messiaen's music. It's not obligatory to experience it when listening to him in order to enjoy his work and even with synesthesia you'd be unlikely to see the colours he did anyway.


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## Captainnumber36

I'm not sure I have this or not, but I know I enjoy music which I find to be very visual; brooding, fun, assertive and trippy worlds being favored.


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## bagpipers

hammeredklavier said:


> doesn't make sense to me. You say you don't have perfect pitch. If you just hear the tonic of a scale, say, A, without a reference point to compare it to in your brain (eg. hear the note, C, as a reference at the time, knowing that it is C), how would you know that the tonic note is A? If you don't know the tonic of the scale is A, how would you know the scale in equal temperament is in A major/minor?


It's something abstract you'd have to experience to understand!


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## bagpipers

Captainnumber36 said:


> I'm not sure I have this or not, but I know I enjoy music which I find to be very visual; brooding, fun, assertive and trippy worlds being favored.











How Do You Know If You Have Synesthesia?


When you hear a word, do you see a color or taste a food? You may have the condition, synesthesia, You perceive one sense through another of your senses.




www.webmd.com




.


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## Captainnumber36

bagpipers said:


> How Do You Know If You Have Synesthesia?
> 
> 
> When you hear a word, do you see a color or taste a food? You may have the condition, synesthesia, You perceive one sense through another of your senses.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> www.webmd.com
> 
> 
> 
> 
> .


I don't think I have it based on that article. But, I do enjoy music that I feel creates brooding, fun, assertive and Trippy visual worlds.

I do believe anyone can have a visual experience with any music, however, since all notes on any instrument create tonal colors.


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## nayahren4

It's so cool, I wish I could feel the same way


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## Nate Miller

I had a friend in music school that had that form of perfect pitch where she saw colors. She played piccolo in the school orchestra, but she was working on her masters in music education. She believed that she could teach people how to associate colors and pitch like what she did.

I've spent my life among musicians, and you are the only other person in 50 years that has ever said that they saw color associated with a pitch


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## EdwardBast

I agree with Hammered's implication: Without perfect pitch, purported musical synesthesia isn't musical, it's something else. Unless one can hear red without knowing and before learning by any other means that the passage or work is in A major, it's just having an association with letters, symbols, or abstract concepts, not true musical synesthesia. Besides, everyone knows A major is a light silvery blue.


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## bagpipers

EdwardBast said:


> I agree with Hammered's implication: Without perfect pitch, purported musical synesthesia isn't musical, it's something else. Unless one can hear red without knowing and before learning by any other means that the passage or work is in A major, it's just having an association with letters, symbols, or abstract concepts, not true musical synesthesia. Besides, everyone knows A major is a light silvery blue.


I'd agree it's more of a personal experience other than something scientific or concrete ,so agreed there!

As far as not having perfect pitch excluding synesthesia ,it would be opposite actually,the person with perfect pitch and synesthesia would the hear tones when they see visual colors,that would be a different scenario all together.It would be a person more sensitive to visual color who would see music as colors,not vice versa.


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## Nate Miller

bagpipers said:


> As far as not having perfect pitch excluding synesthesia ,it would be opposite actually,the person with perfect pitch and synesthesia would the hear tones when they see visual colors,that would be a different scenario all together.It would be a person more sensitive to visual color who would see music as colors,not vice versa.


I dunno about that. Like I said, I personally knew somebody who had this rare form of perfect pitch where she saw colors when she heard pitches. 
Its pretty rare, but not unheard of. I've known lots of people with perfect pitch, but Beverly was the only musician I ever knew that saw colors


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## John O

bagpipers said:


> If I listened to those often which I don't really,I have listened to Scriabin a couple times on youtube ,Messaien not much really.But when I listen to the Moonlight sonata I see a cave of ice chrystals,does that make sense.


It would be interesting to know what you would experience if you listened to the moonlight sonata played in a different key.


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## bagpipers

John O said:


> It would be interesting to know what you would experience if you listened to the moonlight sonata played in a different key.


I've heard it on guitar in A minor and it does sound different yes


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## composingmusic

I have a few friends with pitch-colour synaesthesia and they've all got different associations (i.e. they don't associate the same colours with the same pitches). It does seem to be a very individual thing.


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## bagpipers

composingmusic said:


> I have a few friends with pitch-colour synaesthesia and they've all got different associations (i.e. they don't associate the same colours with the same pitches). It does seem to be a very individual thing.


Yes ,very individual,the senses are a unique thing the same way no one reacts to LSD or Peyote the same way either!


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