Can you visualize music?

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Have you ever closed your eyes whilst listening to music and you see the sounds?
It probably sounds odd but I've heard of it before, what does it mean and can everyone see it?
It isn't only seeing things, it's seeing the colours aswell, I posted it here because I know that people with AS have some different attributes to NT's, this only occurs when my eyes are closed.

Just wondered

And does anybody else fiddle with there hair, sometimes pullng it out? :S
There is a professional word for it but I can't think of it.

Last edited by jmfoster on 23 Dec 2008, 6:41 am, edited 1 time in total.

Yes, I can ''see'' music! Great, there are more people who can! And no, I don't play music with my hair.

I didn't say play music with your hair...
:S

The word for that thing you get with music is synaesthesia, and yes, I get it too, some of the time. If it's music that has a strong emotional effect on me. It's not everyone, it happens in varying degrees, and I don't think it's specifically connected with AS.

The word for what you do with your hair is trichotillomania. It's only a problem if you start getting bald patches, or if you eat vast quantities of it and it collects in your stomach.

yeah I've been wondering about that too...

when I listen to music I see it as a geometrical figure of sorts, and it has multiple dimensions, depending on the structure of the music... ok, this is very, very hard to explain, but it's sort of like some sounds are in the same dimension while other sounds form other dimensions and sometimes they collide, which sounds very good, musically.

every song and every album forms a dimension within a dimension that every band is in. so if they play the same stuff over and over I picture it as a very flat, uninteresting figure (even if the music itself is pretty good).

I've always had this problem in explaining why I like one band or one song over another, I can't really tell if the guitarist is doing a really good job there or if the drums are superb or whatever, I tend to like it because it's a multiple-dimensional figure instead of a flat one.

lol, it sounds like a bunch of gibberish, but I have no idea how to explain it better.

Oh absolutely. I see lot's of different things. I often see the musician actually playing the music.

Yes, especially colors being associated with them, not really images (with the exception of a few songs)

All the time!! ! Is it an aspie trait, or does everybody do it?

It's up for grabs whether it's rare or fairly common.

I'm about halfway through "Musicophila" by Oliver Sacks, which has a chapter about synthesia. Fascinating stuff...

i vsualize music in color and fiddle with my hair (I'm a long haired guy)

Hm.. I can't relay to the music part of your questions, but I remember i had a period in my teens, when I had an obsession with hair. I used to pull out one and one hair straw, and then place the root part of the hair against the nose. I kind of liked the odd feeling of the hair root against the nose. Later I bought a microscope and could sit for hours watching hair straws. Especial I liked to watch hair that had branches at the end, not sure if that is the correct english term for it, but I hope you know what I'm talking about.
s**t! I had forgotten all about that. That's what I say, you may think you're alone about certain things, but after joining WP I certainly found out the opposite.

I associate different colors and momentary feelings with different notes or scales so I suppose I do see music though its not like I'm looking through a visual filter while I play. Hard to describe really...

Nope, I do play the music video in my head sometimes, though.

My mind is completely visual/musical

Radioactiveferret -- I took a look at your blog. Why do you call yourself a "future" artist?
These images are amazing!! I love your use of color.

Sometimes. I did a piece on this for my drawing class.