3 ways to use colours to help you learn music

I use colour ALL THE TIME when learning music (of course I don’t take crayons to my Bärenreiter scores - I go digital or make copies for this)

I have synesthesia - that means words, letters, numbers, sound textures or music, has a colour they’re associated with, and it’s consistent. I know this doesn’t happen to everyone, so I will be providing my ideas on how someone who doesn’t experience this can use colour in music.

A tool to help you analyze your music by rhythmic patterns, themes, and chord progressions. A section that repeats itself? Slap a colour on it.

Make it the same colour for the same material throughout to help identify sections where you’ve already worked out details. This can be any colour - mine relates to my synesthesia, but as long as you keep the colour consistent throughout, it becomes an easy identifier.

Have a piece of music that has different voices throughout? Colour code them! This is useful when you have to represent multiple voices on a solo instrument.

For example, in the opening to Olivier Messiaen’s Le Merle noir, opens with a fun passage that mimics bird calls. I approached this by identifying which groupings matched energies or could be the same bird, and applied a different colour to each “bird” to help create that contrast. This way I was able to see my colour code and immediately portray “super chill melodious bird” or “aggressive bird trying to start something over half a worm”

Have a part that’s got SO MANY MARKINGS that you’re having a hard time keeping track of something like dynamics? (I’m looking at you, Boulez’s Sonatine👀) Attach colours to the spectrum of dynamics - for example, light pink for forte, and get more fluorescent as you add f’s!

As long as you choose your colours and keep them consistent, it will allow you to break down the music, and quickly identify different elements. Now get out there, add some colour to your copies or digital editions, or create symbols that have meaning to you and make your life easier in practice!

If you’re looking for flute lessons with a focus on nurturing creativity and curiosity, and finding what works for you, send me a message on my contact page and we can chat. They’re online, so they can happen anywhere!