A Comparative Study of Color Association with Music at Various Age Levels

Abstract

Twelve hundred fifty-six subjects, ranging in age from 3 to 78 years, were asked to listen to three music excerpts and indicate the color they associated with each. The purpose of this procedure was to provide data that might shed light on the origin and development of the association of color with music. Results strongly support the existence of musical color associations in that the subjects' responses were extremely consistent across generations and music examples after approximately age 9. However, an understanding of the origin of musical color associations still seems elusive. The researchers suggest that the association of color with music may not be the result of experiential conditioning or early chromesthetic experiences as has been theorized. Instead, color associations may be a kind of sensory processing of music that appears to be widespread and consistent across a broad age spectrum.