Mary Jane Covley Walker

In January, President Joan Larson presided over the 10th regular meeting of the 2023-24 Shakespeare Club at the home of Mary Jane Covley Walker, with 17 members present.

Following the business meeting, Covley-Walker presented her paper “The Girl Who Could See Music,”

The 11-year-old girl was dancing in her yard and said she saw music and heard melodies in her head. How fascinating. What was happening to her? She had a condition called Synesthesia – rhymes with anesthesia.

We have five senses: touch, sight, taste, sound, and smell. Most people experience their senses one at a time. In synesthesia one sense can be experienced at the same time as another. They are experiencing a mixing of their senses. About 1% of the population in the world has synesthesia. It is genetic.

Not everyone sees the world the same. Synesthesia appears at an early age in children born with synesthesia. They are surprised to discover that not everyone experiences the world the way they do. Because they are often ridiculed or disbelieved, they tend to keep their extraordinary perceptions to themselves. Four percent of synesthetic people combine two or more senses. They see letters, words, numbers, and musical keys as colors, shapes, or sounds. Synesthetic people have superior memories.

There are different types of synesthesia. Some experience sound as color or taste, some experience color as smell, and some experience smell as taste. People with synesthesia see letters and numbers as colors. Some hear sounds in color. Two people will not report the same color for numbers or letters. Our 11-year old girl perceived musical notes in color floating in front of her. She could hear and see the music.

Synesthesia is a hidden sense. For Maria, when a child, the first note she played on the piano was green. She could see with her ears. When she saw reflections in the water she heard sounds. Alma Deutscher is a 12-year old girl who at 10-years old wrote an opera. At 3 she was playing piano and violin and at 4 had melodies and ideas in her head. She has synesthesia. Melodies seem to pop into her head. Music flows from its mysterious source as fluently as breath.

Great composers throughout history have had synesthesia. Gyorgy Ligel, a Hungarian Composer, at 3 or 4 years old imagined music in pictures. He composed the music for 2001 Space Odyssey. Michael Torke a New York-based composer, sees sounds, letters, days, months, and years in color. He uses colors to compose music. He also hears colors. His synesthesia is a source of inspiration in his work. Oliver Messiaen, a French composer saw music in color and forms and heard music in color. Sciabin, a Russian composer and pianist, would see colors while playing the piano and write notes according to these hues. Rinsky-Korsokov, a Russian composer, used his synesthesia to help him compose by combining sounds he heard with colors he saw in his mind. Franz List, a German composer, could see color in the music he created. He would say to his orchestra, “Please gentlemen, a little bluer if you please, this key demands it.” Richard Wagner, a German composer, created a synesthetic experience for his audience so that they could see objects and feel emotions based on the music that they heard. Leonard Bernstein, an American composer and orchestra conductor, could see colors when he listened to music.

Contemporary songwriters and singers use synesthesia to inspire their music. Lorde is a singer who sees sound as color. She described synesthesia as the driving force behind all of her music. Lady Gaga is a singer and songwriter who sees colors when she hears sounds. Her song “Poker Face” is a deep amber color. Pharrell Williams is an American singer songwriter. He can see in his mind and visualize what he is hearing. It was always weird colors. Kanye West sees colored he hears in his head. The music is in color and shapes. Billy Joel is a singer and song writer. He said, “When I think of different types of melodies which are slower or softer, I think in terms of blues or greens. When I have a particularly vivid color, it’s usually a strong melodic, strong rhythmic pattern that emerges at the same time. When I think of certain songs, I think of vivid reds, oranges or golds.” Melissa McCracken sees music in color. She has a form of synesthesia caller chromesthesia which means she spontaneously and involuntarily sees colors when listening to music. Duke Ellington, a jazz musician, composer and pianist, sees music in colors and textures.

Stevie Wonder, even though he’s blind, can see the colors of his music. Patrick Stump is a vocalist and guitarist. He has a type of synesthesia known as grapheme. He sees the letter F as green and the letter S as red. Numbers 1-10 also have colors to him. Alessia Cara thought that synesthesia was something everybody had until she realized not everyone could see sounds. Everything audible is visual for her. Songs would feel purple to her. Marina Diamondis sees sound in color. She sometimes associates music with scents. Mary J. Blidge a singer has synesthesia and sees music in colors. Ed Sheeran a singer song writer has a mild form of synesthesia. He sees his songs in colors. His favorite color is blue, but orange for his music.

Synesthesia is an important window into human perception and creativity. The universe and all of existence is derived from quantum waves of possibilities. The experience of synesthesia is quite beautiful. Many of the synesthetes around the world learned to keep their gift to themselves. Synesthetes are 8x more common among artists, writers, poets, and creative people. In science Robert Caillieo, an engineer, settled on www as a name for the internet because w is green. Richard Feynman, a Nobel physicist perceived colored equations floating in space in front of him – just like our 11-year old girl who saw music notes in the air.