Chromesthetic Responses to Music: Replication and Extension

Abstract

Chromesthesia or “colored-hearing” is a phenomenon in which color images are evoked by auditory stimuli. Subjects reported the color of their mental images as they listened to a series of 12 preludes chosen from J. S. Bach's Well-tempered Clavier. The preludes varied systematically in tonality, tempo, and meter. “Red” responses tended to be elicited by preludes of moderate tempo in quadruple meter. “Yellow” responses tended to be elicited by preludes in a major key with fast tempo and triple meter, and “Blue” responses tended to be elicited by slow tempo preludes. The precise mechanism by which these responses occurred is uncertain, but previous research has indicated that the links between chromesthetic responses and music are mediated by attributes common to both visual and auditory experience.