Do you constantly hear music playing in your head?

**Greywolf** · 01-24-2023, 08:15 AM

I've been a musician for 62 years , a luthier for 40 ..music isn't just in my head it is in every cell of my body.

I remember back in college days I'd paint houses during the summer , one day a client asked why I didn't have a "boom box" or something while I worked ... I told her "music is always playing in my head" ... she asked me if it was distracting... I laughed and told her it would be a very boring and lonely place with out it.

I've also practiced Zen for over 50 years... and apart from the standard conception ... Mediation can take many forms and Music is one, building instruments is another. I always teach my music students about the "sanctity of the note" , to me that is the essence of why you can identify the Masters in a note or two ...

I can't imagine every trying to get rid of music by any means , it is my life.

**mr. beaumont** · 01-24-2023, 12:31 PM

Originally Posted by Greywolf

Mediation can take many forms and Music is one, building instruments is another. I always teach my music students about the "sanctity of the note" , to me that is the essence of why you can identify the Masters in a note or two ....

One of my favorite forms of musical meditation is to put on a drone and just play a note or two against it, focusing on just making a beautiful sound.

I have a tanpura app on my phone that's just perfect for this.

It's also wonderful for non-meditative practice of scales and modes. You can really hear the sound of a particular scale when it's placed against a drone...but that's a different conversation for a different day.

**ragman1** · 01-24-2023, 12:58 PM

You see, you've all lapsed back into contentment... you don't question!

**Christian Miller** · 01-24-2023, 04:52 PM

Originally Posted by ragman1

You see, you've all lapsed back into contentment... you don't question!

I haven’t. I want cake.

**BigDaddyLoveHandles** · 01-24-2023, 05:18 PM

**Stevebol** · 01-25-2023, 12:10 PM

**mr. beaumont** · 01-25-2023, 12:15 PM

Originally Posted by Stevebol

Dammit, man. I didn't even have to click on it and it's stuck in my head.

**Stevebol** · 01-25-2023, 12:18 PM

Originally Posted by mr. beaumont

Dammit, man. I didn't even have to click on it and it's stuck in my head.

Haha. It's the lyrics. What a great story.

**BigDaddyLoveHandles** · 01-27-2023, 01:22 PM

Question for a Friday: what is Naatu?

**John A.** · 01-27-2023, 04:11 PM

Yes I do, and it's really annoying because I can't hear the voices in my head, and I keep missing important instructions.

**Zigracer** · 02-03-2023, 03:32 PM

I often hear music playing in my head, which inspires me; sometimes to just sing. My real affliction is that for me, there is no such thing as background music. When I hear music, I tend to not listen to who I'm with and soak in the music. I don't dare play music while I'm trying to do accurate work.

**ragman1** · 02-05-2023, 08:53 PM

Only in an elevator :-)

**JazzPadd** · 02-05-2023, 09:06 PM

Daily, sometimes random things or an ear worm I recently heard, but most often they’re tunes I been working on. It’s to the point that the Mrs. can tell!

**ronjazz** · 02-10-2023, 06:09 PM

Always, for the past 5 decades.

**CliffR** · 02-11-2023, 11:25 AM

Last night I dreamt I was singing ATTYA. In tune.

**Peter C** · 02-12-2023, 04:41 PM

I only hear it when I choose to, but it's always there.

**jameslovestal** · 02-16-2023, 03:20 PM

Not when I take my daily 4 mile hike. It took me a few years to get to a meditation type state while walking, where one shut out "internal dialog" and just takes in what is around them.

**Vladan** · 02-21-2023, 09:32 AM

Once I posed that question to my bassist friend, .... who, btw, is the best bass player I know, anybody who ever heard him immediately wanted him in band and so on ... his response was: "I never hear anything in my head, it's only when I take bass I just know what to play.

Truly remarkable player. Once he played some wedding, got so drunk that he could not keep standing. So, he was sitting/ lying on the floor, back leaned on amp, still drinking beer with bottle in his right hand, playing bass only by left hand taping, sounding perfect, not missing a beat ... If you believe it, with silence in his head.

**Doctor Jeff** · 02-22-2023, 12:11 PM

Sorry I haven't had time to read all responses.

Yes I hear music in my head pretty much every waking hour. Some of it is stuff I play on the car stereo or off my iPhone at home. Occasionally it's stuff I play on guitar. Otherwise it's just semi-random songs I have heard over the years.

For instance, I saw a thread title Darn That Dream, so guess what I'm replaying in my head right now.

If I ever subconsciously don't think of music, I start to notice my tinnitus a lot more. So it's kind of a choice--listen to music that isn't there or listen to a very high C note droning continuously. (Or maybe the voices in my head, but let's not digress for now.)

**StringNavigator** · 02-27-2023, 01:56 AM

Keeping one's head filled to the brim with music can prevent incursions of political rhetoric from Democrats (Liberals) and Republicans (Conservatives). However, an occasional tune-up is recommended.

**veejazz** · 02-27-2023, 05:27 AM

It's normal for me. A lot of musician experience this, and try to basically harness it and use it to help them be creative and become better artists/players.

**James8928** · Yesterday, 08:33 PM

I’m so relieved I’m not the only one.
when I was younger and in trouble I got sent to a therapist and he asked if music got stuck in my head. I never thought it was abnormal. I never cared except when it’s a bad tune stuck rolling around my brain.

I knew I wasn’t crazy. lol