The definition of chromesthesia
is any type of synesthesia where the inducer is sound
or music and the concurrent is (or includes) colour.
Chromesthesia is quite a commonly-used term, and in practice people normally use it to refer to synesthesia involving music as an inducer (rather than just general sounds) and colour as a concurrent (colour impressions, particularly when the music creates the perception of several different colours, usually with movement and a spatial component and also when the colour impressions are in the form of shapes, lines, etc.).
So basically it's referring to auditory-visual synesthesia in general, EXCEPT for the type where there is no colour involved (synesthetes who only get colourless, black-and-white or greyscale visual impressions from music and sound, which is not as common as the coloured variety but some do experience it like this, usually in the form of geometric shapes).
Like
all the other visual types of synesthesia, chromesthesia can be
associative or projective: most chromesthetes are "associators",
meaning their colour perceptions, which can be extremely vivid, occur
in their mind's eye or just as an impression of a particular colour
or colours, while others are "projectors": this is a
stronger manifestation, where they actually see the colours as if
they were in front of them in real life. It's also interesting to
note that some associator chromesthetes have occasional experiences
of projection (if they're extremely tired, for
example, or perhaps in an unusually
emotional state or smoking cannabis to
relax). For projector synesthetes the
impression can even be so strong sometimes that the colours block out
other visual stimuli, although it's fairly rare for this to be the
case. When it is, it can cause problems for them, making activities
like driving while listening to music impossible. But the vast
majority of people with chromesthesia just enjoy an enhanced
experience of music and it can often increase their interest or
talent in this area, so chromesthetes can quite often be found in the
music business, as musicians, singers or producers, using their
colours to help guide them in their creation and interpretation. And
for some people whose specific type of
synesthesia is tone-to-colour (a
colour is automatically visualised for each musical note),
it can be a strongly contributing factor in
the case of their having absolute or
perfect pitch.
All the following types of synesthesia can be called chromesthesia (the
links go to the pages on each type):
Musical note-colour (=tone-colour)
Timbre-colour (and timbre colour/shape)
Song-colour, musical genre-colour
General sounds-colour (and general sounds-colour/shape)
Voice-colour
(and voice-colour/shape)
This image: Loria187, on Reddit/Synesthesia. 2020.
Go to the page on all the music-related types of synesthesia (not just chromesthesia)
This page last updated: 26 March 2026
water in the bath "feels" different colors depending on water temperature
ReplyDeleteI feel/see the same.
ReplyDeleteDoes only seeing shapes and textures moving around also count as chromesthesia or are these two separate types: sound-shape and sound-texture?
ReplyDeleteI also feel like I can feel the texture, but only where the sound is coming from, not all over my body. When I listen to music with headphones, the textures and shapes are like inside of my head because that's where the music is playing.
When a speaker above me talks or plays music, that's also where the textures and shapes are, but I still seem to "feel" them somehow, as if a part of me reached over there and touched them.
gwsn mentioned
ReplyDeleteI don’t know if this is Chromesthesia but when I hear music or bird song I think about the colors it makes in my brain. It’s not super complex and there’s not really any shapes. I think I have one childhood memory of a cello sounding blue in my head. It is consistent but I have to focus and think about it for a second, so like if I’m hearing a song I have to realize I’m listening to music to see the colors in my minds eye. Is this a form of Chromesthesia?
ReplyDeleteHi! Yes, from what you say it sounds to me like it’s chromesthesia. If you take a few seconds to focus on what you’re hearing before you can see the colours, that’s not incompatible with synesthesia – it can be like that for some people as it can be more subtle and not overwhelming. And many have colour but not shapes. So, yes!
DeleteThanks for replying!
DeleteG-Flat Major is my favorite key, it sounds like golden, like in fall and it reminds me of chocolate, and A-flat Major reminds me of strawberry smooth yogurt because flat keys are the best. G Major is my least favorite key. E minor is my least favorite key too.
Deletehelllo there! i believe i may have some sort of chromesynethesia..? for me, different music sounds like different colours.. as a musician in a band, as i've learnt music theory, those colours now at least partially separate, and as im learning to distinguish more musical features, the colour is starting to separate, and different musical features are different colours. those colours do occasionally blur back into the one colour, especially when i'm tired, and i have to focus to fully distinguish the colours occasionally. happens with singing voices, songs, and some speaking voices. some names are also certain colours. i'm not really sure if it's just correlation or if it could be chromesynethesia...
ReplyDelete