And So...Why Did THAT Suddenly Appear in My (Mental) Ear?

[Cato]

So...you are minding your own business, and simply longing for cleanliness in the shower     , or dutifully drying the dishes while your lovely wife eats those grapes you peeled for her  0:) , or you might be like me, tying my shoes in the morning to avoid another unwanted accident on the stairs    , when suddenly the ominous opening of Bruckner's Ninth Symphony appeared in my (mental) ears!

In such cases we therefore have a few choices:

1. Luxuriate in Bruckner and ignore any impulse to analyze WHY his final Mortal-Combat symphony jumped into your mind
2. Luxuriate in (i.e. start obsessing why) it jumped into your mind
3. Both 1 and 2
4. Luxuriate in e.g. Scriabin's Fourth Symphony instead

So...what has been your tendency? 

Mine is #3!   

In the example given, I deduced that with the coming of another birthday - the above incident occurred during the week thereof - the old psyche was sighing about edging ever closer to the grave!   0:)

But Bruckner also helped to counterbalance any further Angst!

[Opus106]

It's usually #1. It's in the cases when some song which I haven't heard in years/don't really care for that pops out the first thing in the morning, that I ask the question.

[DavidW]

#1 only.  Also it is a great reason to listen to the music as well!

[ibanezmonster]

Well, it's no mystery.
It's all subconscious, just like the way the randomness of dreams work. Close your eyes and don't think of anything for a while, and images will start popping into your head. Same thing. I don't think there always has to be a "trigger"- often, there may be, as in the case of dreams, but I think if there is no immediate trigger, then the mind just thinks of anything it feels like thinking of at the moment.

Was it regular or super-realistic? The latter would be a very special case...

[Wanderer]

Either #1 or #4. Although, in Scriabin's case, it's even more likely to be the martial theme from the Second Symphony's final movement.     

[snyprrr]

Sometimes I hear music that resembles or strongly reminds me of a piece I do know. From then on, it's running my head.

Spoken words can remind me of songs, and I start singing the song which has nothing to do with anything at the time.

Both things happen to me a lot.

Anton Diffring! ,... wonderful!!


Usually it's something I don't want that pops into my ear,... Karma Chameleon anyone?

[Cato]

Well, it's no mystery.
It's all subconscious, just like the way the randomness of dreams work. Close your eyes and don't think of anything for a while, and images will start popping into your head. Same thing. I don't think there always has to be a "trigger"- often, there may be, as in the case of dreams, but I think if there is no immediate trigger, then the mind just thinks of anything it feels like thinking of at the moment. 

Are you postulating the presence of a second willpower in your psyche?! 

Scary stuff!   

Yes, it is a mystery: to say that it is "all subconscious" does not answer why the unconscious (Freud proclaimed the term "subconscious" anathema because he found it vague) would generate a specific piece of music at a specific time.

This question applies of course to the artistic mind in general: why does a mind create original sounds, images, stories, etc. while some minds do not?

Was it regular or super-realistic? The latter would be a very special case...

By "super-realistic" do you mean: did the music sound as if it were really being played?  If so, that has happened to me rarely, usually in a dream where I am positive something is being played so loudly that it wakes me up.

[karlhenning]

By "super-realistic" do you mean: did the music sound as if it were really being played?  If so, that has happened to me rarely, usually in a dream where I am positive something is being played so loudly that it wakes me up.

Très intéressant!

[Cato]

Très intéressant!

Yes it was!

In one case, the music was of my own creation (quarter-tone trombone chorale (with 9 trombones)), in another Mahler's Sixth Symphony (Finale, the development section), and in another Schoenberg's Gurrelieder (Waldemar's last song, Du Strenger Richter droben) as conducted by Boulez in the early 1970's). 

This has also rarely happened with voices: I still recall vividly "hearing" my deceased grandmother about 40 years ago.  I woke up immediately, at first elated with the emotion that she was somehow alive, and then crashing into confusion almost instantly with the memory of the reality.

[ibanezmonster]

Are you postulating the presence of a second willpower in your psyche?! 

Just referring to the subconscious. It is a second willpower, after all.

Yes, it is a mystery: to say that it is "all subconscious" does not answer why the unconscious (Freud proclaimed the term "subconscious" anathema because he found it vague) would generate a specific piece of music at a specific time.

You might be able to trace it back to something concrete, maybe not. If you ever keep track of your dreams, often you'll find obvious examples. With these examples, the topic of dreams is based on certain types of thoughts- thoughts that hold some sort of power over the others (by standing out in some way), yet are soon either forgotten, ignored, or whatever. They then seep into the subconscious and come alive because they still have "energy." (Think of my use of term "energy" like the way thoughts or moods can be powerful around the time of conception (think- "epiphanies"), but fizzle out- I experience that every day while learning new programming skills).    (i can give you an example, but only if you're totally interested for some reason, because i don't feel like typing it right now).

Now, as for how that applies to you... I think it's similar. I think your basic question is: why does music randomly pop into the mind sometimes? The similarity is that something might hint at it, and then trigger the thought. (It doesn't matter how many years ago since you've last heard it- if you've got the music well-memorized enough, you'll be able to recall it forever).

I can sit here and use my subconscious to randomly pull up a bit of music that I haven't hear in quite a while. Just relax and think of anything, and sometimes music will pop into your head based on a connection.

As for the times where you can't track down a trigger, then you either can't remember it or there is something else going on- I don't know. It would be fun to do an experiment to find whether the reasons for music popping into the mind is entirely because of some trigger (either realized or forgotten), or if there's another factor.

By "super-realistic" do you mean: did the music sound as if it were really being played?  If so, that has happened to me rarely, usually in a dream where I am positive something is being played so loudly that it wakes me up.

Yep, good, I've actually mentioned this in another thread and have talked to a few people here about experiences like those, and it seems common for that to happen at least once to a person.

[eyeresist]

Whenever a tune pops up in my head and I can't immediately identify it, it always turns out to be Sibelius. Always.

[Cato]

Whenever a tune pops up in my head and I can't immediately identify it, it always turns out to be Sibelius. Always.

Wow!  That is verrry interesting!  Can we assume that the music of Sibelius is usually in your speakers, or that he has been a favorite for years?

In the now deceased T.V. series Saving Grace, which deals with a policewoman who meets her guardian angel with the disturbing message that she has not long to live and needs to mend her awry life, Grace hallucinates in the last few episodes the opening instrumental bars to Beethoven's Ode To Joy.  It is so vivid that she tries to change the radio station, but of course the music - which is unknown to her - is in her head.

Curiously, she becomes so distracted and disturbed by it that she ends up in a car accident.

[DavidW]

For me if I don't usually recognize it, its usually Bruckner.  I don't know why, but Bruckner pops into my head more than any other composer.

[Grazioso]

I don't try to analyze it. My mental CD-changer just spits out whatever it wants and I bop along Seriously, I don't invest it with any more seriousness or depth than any other thought, image, or emotion that might flit across my consciousness. I've never had a musical hallucination where I literally seem to hear music that's not there.

Much more frequently, I intentionally call up certain pieces or songs for amusement. (I have a good musical memory and can remember melodies I haven't physically heard in ages.)

[Cato]

For me if I don't usually recognize it, its usually Bruckner.  I don't know why, but Bruckner pops into my head more than any other composer.

Possibly your unconscious dislikes Brahms?   

I find it fascinating that the phenomenon is ascribed to a (seemingly) separate willpower.  If/When a certain composer's music occurs to me, I can understand it better, if the music comes from a favorite, or from something recently concentrated upon.  (The exact reasons as to why might remain mysteriously hidden.)

When such is not the case, then a great deal of introspection would be needed, with no guarantee of an "Aha!" solution. 

In neither case would I want to say "My unconscious obviously wanted to hear it."   0:)

I am not criticizing anyone who would phrase it that way, and I understand why people would do so: I just find it personally interesting.

Also: can higher primates generate music in their brains for their own entertainment?  Do sounds/images occur to them in the same way?  And if they have heard Mozart at the zoo concert, or Pat Benatar , or Bon Jovi, would they be able to "hear" it later?

[DavidW]

Possibly your unconscious dislikes Brahms?   

Come to think of it I never hear Brahms in my head.  I hear Wagner, but no Brahms.  I must need a shrink!

[karlhenning]

Not at all rare for me to hear the tune from the Poco allegretto from the Third Symphony in my head . . . .

[Grazioso]

I find it fascinating that the phenomenon is ascribed to a (seemingly) separate willpower.  If/When a certain composer's music occurs to me, I can understand it better, if the music comes from a favorite, or from something recently concentrated upon.  (The exact reasons as to why might remain mysteriously hidden.)

The idea of a bifurcated mind is common, with subconscious preoccupations or desires unknown to the conscious mind springing into awareness unbidden and unexpected, because, as Greg said, they somehow got invested with psychic "energy" (for want of a better term) and haven't spent themselves yet. Similarly you get analogies of conscious awareness as a tiny movable window through which to view a much larger internal and external world, or as the tip of a mental iceberg, the conceit of the heart having its own reasons, etc.

FYI: In addition to Western theories, Buddhist philosophy delves extensively into these questions and provides interesting food for thought. Fair warning: some of the texts are extremely dense and academic and will require a grounding in the fundamentals of Buddhist thought to make any sense.

[Holden]

I always have a tune playing in my head unless I'm listening to music. Does this make me mad? Probably.

At the moment I've got the opening theme of LvBs Diabelli variations playing - no surprise as I listened to it last night. However, sometimes a tune will pop up out of nowhere, one I haven't listened to for ages, possibly even years and this intrigues me. What triggered this particular piece of music? Sometimes that tune isn't classical and is of the annoying variety and the only way to get rid of it is to physically listen to another piece of music.

Does anyone else here have music constantly in their head or am I the only one here due for the asylum?

[ibanezmonster]

FYI: In addition to Western theories, Buddhist philosophy delves extensively into these questions and provides interesting food for thought. Fair warning: some of the texts are extremely dense and academic and will require a grounding in the fundamentals of Buddhist thought to make any sense.

I would be interested in knowing how accurate some Tibetan monks are when they claim they can control their mind at even a delta state. That's like mastery of meditation...

However, sometimes a tune will pop up out of nowhere, one I haven't listened to for ages, possibly even years and this intrigues me. What triggered this particular piece of music? Sometimes that tune isn't classical and is of the annoying variety and the only way to get rid of it is to physically listen to another piece of music.

My theory that I've thought of a long time ago is that maybe the mind desires long-term memory for some reason- no exceptions, whether you like or hate something. But I haven't really thought it out- just a guess.