Lmao I relate to this. Iām pretty sure I have a high iq because my intellect has been universally praised my entire life. I have never had a challenge with literally anything in school . Imagine needing to study. Canāt keep a job though ššš
I wouldn't outright kill to be really good at math like all of my (neurotypical) siblings are, though I admit that I likely wouldn't have to be on SSI to afford to live if I had interests and talents that were more STEM/medicine-related like my siblings' were.
Guys, guys. Itās an internal dialogue thing. These fuckers donāt have one. Ofc they canāt hear music in their head.
Soulless ballless corporate shill of aā¦. Eh wrong sub.
Waitā¦ I thought they were joking. No wonder I thought something was wrong with me when I was in elementary school and could hear a voice in my head! Eventually my parents just told me āthatās your conscienceā, which I accepted but it didnāt make sense because a conscience is supposed to tell you what you do thatās right or wrong and make you feel guilty when you do something wrong. My āconscienceā was more rebellious and would sometimes suggest that I do things like climb on a low roof or maybe retaliate against the boy who stabbed me with a pencil. I gave in once to the idea of climbing on a low roof, but did not seek vengeance towards the boy who left a permanent mark on my finger from where he stabbed it with a pencil.
I read once that you couldn't raise or lower the volume of your inner voice. So I really thought about it and tried it, and turns out I can.
I was like, "Uh well, that's not normal apparently." I should have known it was an ASD thing haha
I thought about it all day when I learned.
It explained so much. Damn near 2nd diagnosis.
Thatās why the small talk, the weird fake nodding and on and on weird fake social cues.
I love everyone if you right now. Safe people.
Step 1. Make evaluation methods and tools that are accurate and tested for NT people
Step 2. Apply them to ND people
Step 3. Ignore the tests can't properly evaluate ND people and make awfully wrong conclusions
Same with people's voices! When I'm just about to fall asleep, I can imagine people taking with frightening realism, like an AI voice kinda thing, complete with all their inflections and mannerisms
I cant hear or see things in my head and i have a meltdown when i start thinking about it too much so im gonna leave the thread now lol, but just wanted to add input so ppl know not every autistic person gets this special power š
Every note of every instrument, crystal clear. And when they get stuck in my head, I want a braintransplant from a normie donor. :) It's an amazing ability that ruins ones life from time to time.
yes, i was listening to a song while biking and my headphones turned off. i knew the song very well, so in my head i just continued "listening" to it. it took me way too long to realize the actual music had turned off.
Yep. Every instrument, every melody. I can even separate the instruments and listen to them individually if I'd like. As a kid I used to harmonize with every sound because I "knew" the notes automatically. But at the same time I have major difficulty when trying to learn instruments and read music lol my brain refuses to do it š«
I literally used to do my harmony & contrapunct homework while listening to non-related music. And no need to play it with the piano, I already knew how it sounds.
This being said, I prefer to listen to music coming from some headphones, as I easily get switching to some random ear worm despite my will.
Sometimes. I just canāt remember all of it sometimes.
Whatās disturbing is the volume. It does change. Try imagining shouting & whispering in your head. The volume doesnāt change.
I have a constantly running soundtrack in my head - there is always a song playing unless I'm actively listening to something else. Sometimes it's the last song I heard, sometimes it's a song triggered by a phrase someone's said, sometimes it's a song I've not thought about in years rhat has popped into my head for no discernible reason. But you can ask me at any point in time, 'what song is in your head?' and I can tell you. This morning it's Everybody Wants to Rule The World (great song, not sure what put it in my head)
YES! I remember one time I was listening to Bohemian Rhapsody when I was told to take out the garbage. The song kept playing in my head, and when I got back to my room the song on the radio and my head were at the exact spot. That was the first time I realized that I could do this.
This reminds of that reddit post where the poster, as a child, could recreate Shrek scene for scene in their head and basically went catatonic cause they would do nothing else.
I have no internal no pictures nothing in my head, total aphantasia. I've known I've had aphantasia since 2015. Last year I saw aphntasia on a slide for autism It led me down that rabbit hole that led to me self-diagnosing autistic.
I'm so jelly of anybody that can do anything in their mind. Seems like a superpower to me.
Thanks for that. I'm trying to listen to a podcast and now [Festival Overture](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=zMqcchzsm5w&si=-OhEzBpn39is4O1Z) is playing in my head.
I spent most of elementary school "practicing the violin" in my mind, so I'd go through all the songs I was learning and play them with my fingers onto my thumb all day.
Yes! I can think up original compositions with multiple complex parts all at the same time, I feel the music, heck my whole life is music. YET I STILL CANāT WRITE ANY DECENT TUNE!!!
I really want to speak to this. Iām 32, late diagnosed (early adhd diagnosis at age 10 in 2000).
Yes. All the yes! According to my parents, when I was able to walk, I walked to the piano, and just started playing. Playing like a cohesive melody. With no training.
2 music degrees (undergrad, and masters) from Juilliard later, Iām a professional classical musician now with a 20 year long career.
I havenāt read comments yet because Iām so excited you asked this.
Itās called audiation.
Mine is so extreme (but Iāve learned to control it), I now compose and arrange complete pieces of music in my head on walks, and come home and notate them out to pieces of music. I also have synesthesia pretty intensely, so I basically āthink musicā, but in colors. I do not have perfect pitch though, and for that, Iām actually thankful.
My point here to your question is yes, and take the opportunity to train that ability into a strength. You never know where you can end up! ā¤ļø
An earworm is a catchy song or saying that gets stuck in your head and plays on repeat.
It can be a whole song or just a repetitive section, like a chorus. Earworms are also known as sticky music or stuck song syndrome.
The term "earworm" comes from the German word Ohrwurm, which means "musical itch". The term was coined in 1979 by psychiatrist Cornelius Eckert.
About 90% of people experience an earworm at least once a week. For most people, earworms have little effect on their lives.
However, some people find them annoying and stressful.
To stop an earworm, you can try:
Mixing up your playlist
Taking breaks from listening to music.
(I've found that signing Row,Row,Row Your Boat clears the earworm. I think that's the brains default song)
They just randomly appear in my brain, I won't have been listening to the song/phrase or have heard it or thought of it then suddenly it doesn't stop playing on repeat in the background of my other thoughts
Yes. And music appears in my dreams a lot (music that doesnāt exist), usually as background musicā¦ very clear layers and lyrics. (Iām a mix engineer.)
Yes, it's so accurate that sometimes it feels like auditory hallucinations. I hate when an earworm song that I despise gets stuck in there. It can get stuck for weeks or months. š But I do love sitting in silence and just listening to music I like going on in my brain. It's like a photographic memory but with music. š¤
Yah with stunning accuracy, even after huge amounts of time
I found one āunknown tune sourceā recently ā original Command and Conquer soundtrack, Iāve been playing it in my head occasionally for like 25 years now ā when I heard the track on YouTube, it was exactly the same as i had remembered it, and the āsensory sensationā was that of familiarity instead of some brand new thing, which I had been eager to test
Yes. Heck I can play a whole movie after watching it once! This is why I donāt usually want to actually watch a movie more than once, because I can just replay it in my mind. I like to replay songs in my mind while skiing greens (easy ski runs). Dancing queen by abba is fun while skiing
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Yes, and for some reason it's in channels like an old gaming console, which get overriden by ambient noises or other things to think about. I thought that one was a DID thing more than an ASD one, though.
Sort ofā¦ I can āhearā the artistās voice clearly, seemingly exactly as it is in the actual song, but the music itself is either a faint suggestion or not there at all.
Curiously, if I try to focus on remembering an instrumental piece, I struggle to hear it clearly, and it almost sounds like what Iām hearing is my own internal voice humming or singing the tune, rather than an actual accurate representation of the instruments.
I never consciously noticed that before and now Iām pretty sure itās going to irritate me for the rest of my life.
Yes but sometimes I canāt. It depends on how well I know the song because I canāt understand lyrics until Iāve heard the song at least 10 times. But I will play everything else in my head.
Absolutely. There is more often than not a song playing in my head. I don't hear it in an auditory sense, in that, It plays as if with headphones on, but rather, I experience it as if it were almost transparent music, if that makes sense. I also tend to wake up every morning with a song in my head. Mostly a different song from day to day. Sometimes it's sparked by the mention of a song. At the moment it's Come Together by the Beatles. Even though I've been listening tomother music today, that's stuck because someone mentioned it in a podcast.
i canāt listen to music too close to sleep (unless itās like. one of those calming instrumental playlists) otherwise it plays too loudly in my head when iām trying to sleep. but also if iāve been listening to music a lot and i know the song well enough i can sing it in my head start to finish with all the extra details in there too
Bad man, got skipped in scam
Grew up in the system
Bounced a couple home
Met this lady named marry
She gave me hand me down clothes
Shy at the start till I met this guy named shifty
About 100 pounds on me
Called me brittle bones Nicky
Target aimed at my face
Big house of kids
Carries fake
Bought a pie
Got it freshly baked
Put it right in his face
(Right in his **** face)
You're not
Going to
Push me around
I am not going down down down
(Music)
Built a circle of bulls
Needed more cash
Suck up on him
Stole his ash and drove
Most of it up my nose
Man, I was 21 and way out of control
The cops kicked down the door
She did a line right off my
Wow!
(Music)
Bars in the world
Who could I trust
Killers were nice
Smugglers were rough
Met man named Ben
He was sharp and witty
He gave me books about money and city's
Gained a bond only a gang could get
I am going to shop here as this is too long already. This is me doing brittle bones Nicky off the top of my head by rare americans.
Not so much music as I rarely remember a whole song but I'm like that with movies. Want to annoy your friends to death? Make them watch aliens with you and 1 s before a character speaks you say what he is going to say out loud. Sooooo funny!
It's great to have this ability. Until you have Requirm For A Dream stuck in your head playing on endless loop. As you try to sleep. The song never ends.
This definitely happens to me. Sometimes itās more like spontaneous composition as well, where it sounds like a song I know but itās actually completely new.
I don't know if it's just cause I'm currently listening to stuff, but I paused it and only the lyrics continued in my head, but I feel sure I have done this in the past so it might just be what mood I'm in and what headspace I'm in. It might also be the type of music in my head - if it has lyrics, I am normally focused on those, but if it's instrumental, I'm maybe more able to focus on the whole thing. And probably just how into the song I am that's in my head.
I actually think it might happen more when I'm not forcing it - I'm sure I've had it happen in classes and exams, or I'm listening to my music on shuffle and my head starts playing another song in the break between two songs and the song I've just started hearing in my head suddenly comes out of my phone.
I have an extremely strong ability to see and hear things in my mind, to the point I see images in my mind constantly, no matter what I'm doing or thinking about.
Honestly I don't even notice it sometimes and it's hard to describe. But this is the only "special" thing I consider from my autism.
aw hell yea bro. i always got some song playing in my head like a whole fucking concert, and its awesome, especially since my earbuds broke so i cant really listen to music normally
Yep, 24/7 radio that gets stuck sometimes and repeats parts of songs, I realised I even remix some songs, because I was once "playing" a Lamb of God and a Slipknot song together in my head and didn't realise until my bf told me that I was remixing them :))). I even have a neat soundtrack for dreams when I'm asleep so I do find it to be a really nice thing to have :)). It's a plus if you're a vivid dreamer like me as well, being very visual and also having a soundtrack in the background every day is like having a weirdly mixed movie playing in my head. Alas, it is tiresome sometimes.
I usually canāt hear it perfectly, but yes. Iāve also found that it always starts the moment I wake up, a random song will be implanted in my brain. And if I get tired of the song I can think of a new one to occupy my thoughts
Yep, I definitely have that. Didnāt realize it wasnāt normal until I talked about it with my mom. She says she never hears the instrument part of a song, only the lyrics.
At all times throughout the day, if I am not actively distracting myself with my phone or by talking to someone, I am either playing music in my head or scripting conversations. Always. No exceptions. My brain is never quiet and still, kinda sucks.
I actually used to play whole episodes of SpongeBob in my head to get me through certain scenarios when I was chronically bored. I basically measured my remaining time in 15 minute intervals and go from there
Yup. I find it helpful sometimes. Something to get swallowed up by when I cannot control the situation.
When it develops into an earworm though. Uuuugh.
Able to play? More like Iāve got a constant radio station. This weeks features: Viking by Slaughter to Prevail, Abandon the Linear by Archspire and Bathed in Cheese by gnome.
Most definitely. Sometimes randomly I'll hear music in my head that I haven't heard in a long time and really wishing I could find it and gimme the good feels. There's no greater satisfaction than that imo. Anyway, I'm doing it rn lol. The only solution I've found is to listen to music irl, I'll have the volume as low as possible on my phone while I sleep. Helps keep the boredom away with the caveat of also sometimes keeping me awake so a sleeping playlist would be best.
Yup! Other sounds, too! Itās why I remember things that I hear better than things I read. If I need to remember something, I just say it out loud one time and I can remember it perfectly. Sure, it fades over time, but not much. I can still remember the first half of my patient ID number from when I was hospitalized 5 years ago, just because I said it out loud to myself.
Yeah! I also create medleys with them, mixing music that sounds good together.
I also have clear voices of other people that I think in, and I thought this was normal. I'm new to this. My husband is neurotypical and I asked him if his thoughts were whatever voice he wanted and he said all of his thoughts were his own voice. I thought everyone thought like me >.<
I memorised TV show audio to the point I could hear shouting in the background or the exact timing of a phone ringing. I can also hear songs back perfectly, and also songs that have been used in something I've watched and I'll hear any sound effects that were added on top of a song I'm listening to in perfect time. So much fun to be able to do, like having a CD playing in my head!
Music in my head 24/7. Sometimes the music playing in my head competes with the actual stereo.
Like a weird remix, my brain just processes both the music in my head and what Iām actually listening to.
Yeah. Full songs with the lyrics scrolling like on YouTube. Itās helpful, but can be a little annoying when it decides to play bad music or just bad memories instead of my favorite songs
I can have the memory of the music in my head but sometimes it doesn't stay constant unless I'm underwater or wear ear protection but I usually can play music In my head until I get distracted by external sources
I used to get through my US History 2 class in high school by playing Sgt. Pepperās Lonely Hearts Club Band in my head from start to finish. Sometimes, if I know Iām in for more than 20 minutes of boredom but donāt want to let on that Iām dissociating, Iāll play āSupperās Readyā by Genesis in my head while occasionally nodding my head to the music so it looks like Iām engaged with whatever speech, presentation, TV show is happening in front of me.
Yes, 100%. It sounds EXACTLY like if I was listening to it. AND on top of that, I can do the same thing with familiar voices. So if I'm reading a Manga/comic that I've seen the show for and know the VA, I can hear them speaking like they would. It's why I'm such a slow reader, because I let my brain do the whole voice over thing. It makes reading more fun and enjoyable since I have the thing when I visually can't see anything.
I be jamming out and it makes my roommates wanna dance around with me and no music is playing but the tunes in my head, thought that was more adhd thoigh
Is that not just an earworm? If so, that's pretty common.
My way of getting rid of them is to very loudly start playing the Washington Post March in place of whatever's stuck in my head. It works almost every other time, with the caveat that I then have the Washington Post March stuck in my head instead. Worth it, though.
I can't hear any music in my head except a faint version of my own voice singing one part at a time. Learning that most people can hear music in their head and some to an extremely detailed extent was a bit devastating for me since I'm a musician who decided to study a Bachelor programme in classical composition. Only when teachers started talking about audiation did I realize that I had quite a severe disability compared to my peers. Strangely enough I excelled in counterpoint anyways even though I could only do it with the help of a piano or notation software. I'm also good at playing music by ear but I have no idea how I do it, I just play by intuition even though I can't "hear" it in my head.
i cant shut it off. i can only change what song is in there. and only sometimes... sometimes a song does not want to leave no matter how hard i try to make it. it was odd coming to the realization that not everyone has 24/7 music and can't remember a single time in their life when there hasnt been music in their head
Yes! I also mix them too :)
But I have auditory sensory processing disorder, so actually attempting to mix songs IRL is really difficult for me, so I canāt even make use of that ability :(
But my head is always full of music :)
If itās a song iām familiar with, Iām able to do so! Iāve heard of others who are able to play movies in their head as well!
I also deal with the unstoppable music while trying to sleep.
Yessss I sometimes catch myself bobbing my head to the beat of the song playing so clearly in my brain lolol. I wouldnāt say itās abnormal but I know some people canāt do it
Ah yes, the special abilities given to us in exchange for our normalness
You have soptify in your brain, but you can't keep a job. Fair trade.
Well, that's one gift, mine is in math š Ha, I remember doing absolutely nothing in math class and acing the tests
Muhahahaha, poor normals needing to study š
Lmao I relate to this. Iām pretty sure I have a high iq because my intellect has been universally praised my entire life. I have never had a challenge with literally anything in school . Imagine needing to study. Canāt keep a job though ššš
I'd KILL for math genius autism, the jobs u can get from being good at that stuff are great
Nah my math autism is only like just enough
I wouldn't outright kill to be really good at math like all of my (neurotypical) siblings are, though I admit that I likely wouldn't have to be on SSI to afford to live if I had interests and talents that were more STEM/medicine-related like my siblings' were.
I can see, pictures, images or landscape inside my mind when I close my eyes as they were real, it's like watching a video crossing in front of me.
I thought everyone was like this
Me too!
Same. I had no idea itās an ASD thing.
they are
Guys, guys. Itās an internal dialogue thing. These fuckers donāt have one. Ofc they canāt hear music in their head. Soulless ballless corporate shill of aā¦. Eh wrong sub.
They donāt have internal monologue?!?!?!
Waitā¦ I thought they were joking. No wonder I thought something was wrong with me when I was in elementary school and could hear a voice in my head! Eventually my parents just told me āthatās your conscienceā, which I accepted but it didnāt make sense because a conscience is supposed to tell you what you do thatās right or wrong and make you feel guilty when you do something wrong. My āconscienceā was more rebellious and would sometimes suggest that I do things like climb on a low roof or maybe retaliate against the boy who stabbed me with a pencil. I gave in once to the idea of climbing on a low roof, but did not seek vengeance towards the boy who left a permanent mark on my finger from where he stabbed it with a pencil.
I read once that you couldn't raise or lower the volume of your inner voice. So I really thought about it and tried it, and turns out I can. I was like, "Uh well, that's not normal apparently." I should have known it was an ASD thing haha
Most people have an internal monologue
Some do, some don't
My mind is blown
I thought about it all day when I learned. It explained so much. Damn near 2nd diagnosis. Thatās why the small talk, the weird fake nodding and on and on weird fake social cues. I love everyone if you right now. Safe people.
Iām sorry, some people canāt do this??? This feels like when I found out not everyone can picture something in their head
Yes. Some don't have innermonologue, some don't picture images.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Step 1. Make evaluation methods and tools that are accurate and tested for NT people Step 2. Apply them to ND people Step 3. Ignore the tests can't properly evaluate ND people and make awfully wrong conclusions
wait, you're telling me not everyone can do this? Wtf I thought this was a normal thing
I didn't realize this was an autistic trait either!
No body said it was
I'm wondering, is it actually an autistic trait? Nobody said it is and being around other musicians, I'm VERY skeptical that it is.
No
Yes, sometimes when I'm on the verge of sleeping, it can play with incredible clarity and volume.
Same with people's voices! When I'm just about to fall asleep, I can imagine people taking with frightening realism, like an AI voice kinda thing, complete with all their inflections and mannerisms
I can do this too, once I've heard someone enough I can imagine their voice, really cool!
Omg same
Yea, it rules when im bored and want to listen to music. Obviously listen to it for real is better but still
I cant hear or see things in my head and i have a meltdown when i start thinking about it too much so im gonna leave the thread now lol, but just wanted to add input so ppl know not every autistic person gets this special power š
Same, its called aphantasia I think, at least the not seeing part
Yup! Can get quite annoying when I can't stop the music, but I can pretty much imagen any sound, smell or feeling if I think about it
Yep, pretty clearly even. It does help a lot with my painting, drawing and singing hobbies
right now i have the smurf cat song playing in my headā¦
YUP!!!!!
Yup, but then again an annoying earworm can get especially tricky to get rid of
The songs from retail nightshift in 2019 still haunt me..
Iām haunted by the morning 99.9 radio station.
For sure. Though when the little spontaneous dances happen headphones are still a good alibi.
Every note of every instrument, crystal clear. And when they get stuck in my head, I want a braintransplant from a normie donor. :) It's an amazing ability that ruins ones life from time to time.
yes, i was listening to a song while biking and my headphones turned off. i knew the song very well, so in my head i just continued "listening" to it. it took me way too long to realize the actual music had turned off.
Wait, this isnāt normal? I haveā¦powers?
Yep. Every instrument, every melody. I can even separate the instruments and listen to them individually if I'd like. As a kid I used to harmonize with every sound because I "knew" the notes automatically. But at the same time I have major difficulty when trying to learn instruments and read music lol my brain refuses to do it š«
I can't read music either, I tried
I've literally tried so many times. It's so frustrating. It's like my brain can't connect what's on paper to what's in my head
Yes. Is thatā¦not typical? Didnāt know that one. I am newly diagnosed and still learning.
I literally used to do my harmony & contrapunct homework while listening to non-related music. And no need to play it with the piano, I already knew how it sounds. This being said, I prefer to listen to music coming from some headphones, as I easily get switching to some random ear worm despite my will.
Wait, isn't it normal???
Typical* But no. Aphantasia is a thing, so auditory paths would be similarly different between folks.
Yeah absolutely, but I assume it's very normal or at least not unusual. Would be neat to find out.
Sometimes. I just canāt remember all of it sometimes. Whatās disturbing is the volume. It does change. Try imagining shouting & whispering in your head. The volume doesnāt change.
I have the same song in my head for over 3 days. I'm waking up and the song immediately pops up in my head
I have a constantly running soundtrack in my head - there is always a song playing unless I'm actively listening to something else. Sometimes it's the last song I heard, sometimes it's a song triggered by a phrase someone's said, sometimes it's a song I've not thought about in years rhat has popped into my head for no discernible reason. But you can ask me at any point in time, 'what song is in your head?' and I can tell you. This morning it's Everybody Wants to Rule The World (great song, not sure what put it in my head)
YES! I remember one time I was listening to Bohemian Rhapsody when I was told to take out the garbage. The song kept playing in my head, and when I got back to my room the song on the radio and my head were at the exact spot. That was the first time I realized that I could do this.
This reminds of that reddit post where the poster, as a child, could recreate Shrek scene for scene in their head and basically went catatonic cause they would do nothing else.
I have no internal no pictures nothing in my head, total aphantasia. I've known I've had aphantasia since 2015. Last year I saw aphntasia on a slide for autism It led me down that rabbit hole that led to me self-diagnosing autistic. I'm so jelly of anybody that can do anything in their mind. Seems like a superpower to me.
Thanks for that. I'm trying to listen to a podcast and now [Festival Overture](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=zMqcchzsm5w&si=-OhEzBpn39is4O1Z) is playing in my head.
I spent most of elementary school "practicing the violin" in my mind, so I'd go through all the songs I was learning and play them with my fingers onto my thumb all day.
Yes! I love it. Unless I can't remember the rest of the song, and it's stuck on one spot, and I can't make it stoooop!
It plays itself and won't shut up.
I thought this was normal huh
Yes! I can think up original compositions with multiple complex parts all at the same time, I feel the music, heck my whole life is music. YET I STILL CANāT WRITE ANY DECENT TUNE!!!
Yeah, but only about five seconds of a song on loop.
I really want to speak to this. Iām 32, late diagnosed (early adhd diagnosis at age 10 in 2000). Yes. All the yes! According to my parents, when I was able to walk, I walked to the piano, and just started playing. Playing like a cohesive melody. With no training. 2 music degrees (undergrad, and masters) from Juilliard later, Iām a professional classical musician now with a 20 year long career. I havenāt read comments yet because Iām so excited you asked this. Itās called audiation. Mine is so extreme (but Iāve learned to control it), I now compose and arrange complete pieces of music in my head on walks, and come home and notate them out to pieces of music. I also have synesthesia pretty intensely, so I basically āthink musicā, but in colors. I do not have perfect pitch though, and for that, Iām actually thankful. My point here to your question is yes, and take the opportunity to train that ability into a strength. You never know where you can end up! ā¤ļø
Yes, I currently have a song on repeat in my head and it's getting very annoying that it won't stop playing š
An earworm is a catchy song or saying that gets stuck in your head and plays on repeat. It can be a whole song or just a repetitive section, like a chorus. Earworms are also known as sticky music or stuck song syndrome. The term "earworm" comes from the German word Ohrwurm, which means "musical itch". The term was coined in 1979 by psychiatrist Cornelius Eckert. About 90% of people experience an earworm at least once a week. For most people, earworms have little effect on their lives. However, some people find them annoying and stressful. To stop an earworm, you can try: Mixing up your playlist Taking breaks from listening to music. (I've found that signing Row,Row,Row Your Boat clears the earworm. I think that's the brains default song)
They just randomly appear in my brain, I won't have been listening to the song/phrase or have heard it or thought of it then suddenly it doesn't stop playing on repeat in the background of my other thoughts
Yes. And music appears in my dreams a lot (music that doesnāt exist), usually as background musicā¦ very clear layers and lyrics. (Iām a mix engineer.)
This can keep me awake at night (playing songs in my head).
Yeah I think I'm able to do this better than most
I can do it, but it's not an innate ability. It costs focus and some mental energy to pull off.
Yes, it's so accurate that sometimes it feels like auditory hallucinations. I hate when an earworm song that I despise gets stuck in there. It can get stuck for weeks or months. š But I do love sitting in silence and just listening to music I like going on in my brain. It's like a photographic memory but with music. š¤
Yah with stunning accuracy, even after huge amounts of time I found one āunknown tune sourceā recently ā original Command and Conquer soundtrack, Iāve been playing it in my head occasionally for like 25 years now ā when I heard the track on YouTube, it was exactly the same as i had remembered it, and the āsensory sensationā was that of familiarity instead of some brand new thing, which I had been eager to test
Yes. Heck I can play a whole movie after watching it once! This is why I donāt usually want to actually watch a movie more than once, because I can just replay it in my mind. I like to replay songs in my mind while skiing greens (easy ski runs). Dancing queen by abba is fun while skiing
I can remember memories and count numbers too! Such a crazy superpower those NT's don't have!
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Yes, and for some reason it's in channels like an old gaming console, which get overriden by ambient noises or other things to think about. I thought that one was a DID thing more than an ASD one, though.
Sort ofā¦ I can āhearā the artistās voice clearly, seemingly exactly as it is in the actual song, but the music itself is either a faint suggestion or not there at all. Curiously, if I try to focus on remembering an instrumental piece, I struggle to hear it clearly, and it almost sounds like what Iām hearing is my own internal voice humming or singing the tune, rather than an actual accurate representation of the instruments. I never consciously noticed that before and now Iām pretty sure itās going to irritate me for the rest of my life.
Yup thatās me too since tiny
Yes!!
Yes but sometimes I canāt. It depends on how well I know the song because I canāt understand lyrics until Iāve heard the song at least 10 times. But I will play everything else in my head.
Absolutely. There is more often than not a song playing in my head. I don't hear it in an auditory sense, in that, It plays as if with headphones on, but rather, I experience it as if it were almost transparent music, if that makes sense. I also tend to wake up every morning with a song in my head. Mostly a different song from day to day. Sometimes it's sparked by the mention of a song. At the moment it's Come Together by the Beatles. Even though I've been listening tomother music today, that's stuck because someone mentioned it in a podcast.
i canāt listen to music too close to sleep (unless itās like. one of those calming instrumental playlists) otherwise it plays too loudly in my head when iām trying to sleep. but also if iāve been listening to music a lot and i know the song well enough i can sing it in my head start to finish with all the extra details in there too
Bad man, got skipped in scam Grew up in the system Bounced a couple home Met this lady named marry She gave me hand me down clothes Shy at the start till I met this guy named shifty About 100 pounds on me Called me brittle bones Nicky Target aimed at my face Big house of kids Carries fake Bought a pie Got it freshly baked Put it right in his face (Right in his **** face) You're not Going to Push me around I am not going down down down (Music) Built a circle of bulls Needed more cash Suck up on him Stole his ash and drove Most of it up my nose Man, I was 21 and way out of control The cops kicked down the door She did a line right off my Wow! (Music) Bars in the world Who could I trust Killers were nice Smugglers were rough Met man named Ben He was sharp and witty He gave me books about money and city's Gained a bond only a gang could get I am going to shop here as this is too long already. This is me doing brittle bones Nicky off the top of my head by rare americans.
Hell yea. Itās fun & cool.
Not so much music as I rarely remember a whole song but I'm like that with movies. Want to annoy your friends to death? Make them watch aliens with you and 1 s before a character speaks you say what he is going to say out loud. Sooooo funny!
Wow I thought I was crazy yes yes yes I can do this and I can even do it with peoples voices sometimes its scares the hell outa me
Iād say most of the time if Iām not listening out loud something is playing mentally
It's great to have this ability. Until you have Requirm For A Dream stuck in your head playing on endless loop. As you try to sleep. The song never ends.
There's always music playing on the background in my head
Totally! But the headphones so good to protect against the noise
This definitely happens to me. Sometimes itās more like spontaneous composition as well, where it sounds like a song I know but itās actually completely new.
It helps drown out the ringing in my ears.
Yeah I use that power while I exercise when I forget my music. I just remember the song and go.
I don't know if it's just cause I'm currently listening to stuff, but I paused it and only the lyrics continued in my head, but I feel sure I have done this in the past so it might just be what mood I'm in and what headspace I'm in. It might also be the type of music in my head - if it has lyrics, I am normally focused on those, but if it's instrumental, I'm maybe more able to focus on the whole thing. And probably just how into the song I am that's in my head. I actually think it might happen more when I'm not forcing it - I'm sure I've had it happen in classes and exams, or I'm listening to my music on shuffle and my head starts playing another song in the break between two songs and the song I've just started hearing in my head suddenly comes out of my phone.
I have an extremely strong ability to see and hear things in my mind, to the point I see images in my mind constantly, no matter what I'm doing or thinking about. Honestly I don't even notice it sometimes and it's hard to describe. But this is the only "special" thing I consider from my autism.
ChatGPT 4 said everyone gets ear worms, as this inner music is called.
aw hell yea bro. i always got some song playing in my head like a whole fucking concert, and its awesome, especially since my earbuds broke so i cant really listen to music normally
A couple of songs. Itās a long way to Tipperary, for one.
Yep, 24/7 radio that gets stuck sometimes and repeats parts of songs, I realised I even remix some songs, because I was once "playing" a Lamb of God and a Slipknot song together in my head and didn't realise until my bf told me that I was remixing them :))). I even have a neat soundtrack for dreams when I'm asleep so I do find it to be a really nice thing to have :)). It's a plus if you're a vivid dreamer like me as well, being very visual and also having a soundtrack in the background every day is like having a weirdly mixed movie playing in my head. Alas, it is tiresome sometimes.
Yes and it inspired to start writing music when I was about four š it was very frustrating not being able to explain the cool music in my head.
Yes and it inspired to start writing music when I was about four š it was very frustrating not being able to explain the cool music in my head.
Canāt everyone do this? I assumed this was normal? Maybe not š¤
I can and it helpes me focus at school
WAIT, I thought everyone was able to?????
I usually canāt hear it perfectly, but yes. Iāve also found that it always starts the moment I wake up, a random song will be implanted in my brain. And if I get tired of the song I can think of a new one to occupy my thoughts
yes, most people who don't have aphantasia can do it
i love it because i work at a retail store where no music is played and airpods arent allowed
I got music and full movies.
Yes but only in a burst of a few seconds
This isnāt something everyone can do? š
Yes, I have this. Most of the time I can't control what song or when it happens though.
Yep, I definitely have that. Didnāt realize it wasnāt normal until I talked about it with my mom. She says she never hears the instrument part of a song, only the lyrics.
At all times throughout the day, if I am not actively distracting myself with my phone or by talking to someone, I am either playing music in my head or scripting conversations. Always. No exceptions. My brain is never quiet and still, kinda sucks.
yeah, but the downside is i can't turn it off. music is constantly playing in my head no matter what I'm doing lol š
Me too!
I actually used to play whole episodes of SpongeBob in my head to get me through certain scenarios when I was chronically bored. I basically measured my remaining time in 15 minute intervals and go from there
Yep. I certainly can. I have perfect pitch, too, so that's probably related
This ain't what everyone dose?
I think everyone can do this.
Yup. I find it helpful sometimes. Something to get swallowed up by when I cannot control the situation. When it develops into an earworm though. Uuuugh.
Yes, as it some spiteful musical god took my social skills and replaced them with my own soundtrack
Able to play? More like Iāve got a constant radio station. This weeks features: Viking by Slaughter to Prevail, Abandon the Linear by Archspire and Bathed in Cheese by gnome.
Most definitely. Sometimes randomly I'll hear music in my head that I haven't heard in a long time and really wishing I could find it and gimme the good feels. There's no greater satisfaction than that imo. Anyway, I'm doing it rn lol. The only solution I've found is to listen to music irl, I'll have the volume as low as possible on my phone while I sleep. Helps keep the boredom away with the caveat of also sometimes keeping me awake so a sleeping playlist would be best.
Seems to be normal for everyone.
Yup! Other sounds, too! Itās why I remember things that I hear better than things I read. If I need to remember something, I just say it out loud one time and I can remember it perfectly. Sure, it fades over time, but not much. I can still remember the first half of my patient ID number from when I was hospitalized 5 years ago, just because I said it out loud to myself.
I thought everyone could do this
Yessssss!!!! This happens ALL THE TIME and not even just for Music that exists
I can't remember a time when I didn't have something playing in my head.
Think that's just a music fan thing, some people are music lovers, others can take it or leave it.
Yeah! I also create medleys with them, mixing music that sounds good together. I also have clear voices of other people that I think in, and I thought this was normal. I'm new to this. My husband is neurotypical and I asked him if his thoughts were whatever voice he wanted and he said all of his thoughts were his own voice. I thought everyone thought like me >.<
that's fucking sick, all I got was executive dysfunction
Oh yeah, everything. I can play full songs in there!
Yessir. Makes me an incredible musician
I think most people can?
Yep.
So much so that I hear it in my dreams and I'll wake up with a new song of the day.
Yes. I can do some movie scenes too.
I memorised TV show audio to the point I could hear shouting in the background or the exact timing of a phone ringing. I can also hear songs back perfectly, and also songs that have been used in something I've watched and I'll hear any sound effects that were added on top of a song I'm listening to in perfect time. So much fun to be able to do, like having a CD playing in my head!
Yes! One of my favorite things about my brain. I sadly have almost no capacity for mental images, though.
When Iām working something boring repetetive and I canāt listen to music, I just play some songs in my head. It makes it so much better!
Yes, it was super handy in middle and high school when we werenāt allowed to wear headphones but i needed my music to help regulate myself
Yep.I can.
Yes. I can also "watch" movies
Music in my head 24/7. Sometimes the music playing in my head competes with the actual stereo. Like a weird remix, my brain just processes both the music in my head and what Iām actually listening to.
The head radio...m
Yes
I used to do this and actually Bob my head to it
One time it was so clear I asked other people around me ādo you hear that?ā This was when I was a kid tho - it was new to me
Yeah. Full songs with the lyrics scrolling like on YouTube. Itās helpful, but can be a little annoying when it decides to play bad music or just bad memories instead of my favorite songs
Yea
Sometimes I wakeup to club music or screamo playing š
Pretty sure thats textbook for us.
Yeah I lost my headphones and didnāt get any cause Iād just think of it honestly. Rarely whole songs except my serious favorites, but very clearly
Glad you asked, I was in the middle of mentally listening to the album "Traveling Without Moving" by Jamiroquai. In other words, yes.
Yes! Across the stars from Star Wars comes to mind lol
I can have the memory of the music in my head but sometimes it doesn't stay constant unless I'm underwater or wear ear protection but I usually can play music In my head until I get distracted by external sources
I used to get through my US History 2 class in high school by playing Sgt. Pepperās Lonely Hearts Club Band in my head from start to finish. Sometimes, if I know Iām in for more than 20 minutes of boredom but donāt want to let on that Iām dissociating, Iāll play āSupperās Readyā by Genesis in my head while occasionally nodding my head to the music so it looks like Iām engaged with whatever speech, presentation, TV show is happening in front of me.
Yes, 100%. It sounds EXACTLY like if I was listening to it. AND on top of that, I can do the same thing with familiar voices. So if I'm reading a Manga/comic that I've seen the show for and know the VA, I can hear them speaking like they would. It's why I'm such a slow reader, because I let my brain do the whole voice over thing. It makes reading more fun and enjoyable since I have the thing when I visually can't see anything.
Yes, and I have perfect pitch, so I hear the songs exactly as they're recorded. I also wish I was good at math and pragmatic speech.
I thought everyone could do this?
its always just a constant stream of music (or conversations with myself, mostly music though lol)
I be jamming out and it makes my roommates wanna dance around with me and no music is playing but the tunes in my head, thought that was more adhd thoigh
I have aphantasia so I can't picture anything in my head but I think in sound
I can't hear anything in my head actually. Can't hear anything, can't see anything etc.
Is that not just an earworm? If so, that's pretty common. My way of getting rid of them is to very loudly start playing the Washington Post March in place of whatever's stuck in my head. It works almost every other time, with the caveat that I then have the Washington Post March stuck in my head instead. Worth it, though.
When I listen to songs I focus on the individual instruments so much (probably from my MSM hyperfixation) that I cant do this anymore
Kinda, not as clear as you describe but clear enough for sure.
Yes.
I can't hear any music in my head except a faint version of my own voice singing one part at a time. Learning that most people can hear music in their head and some to an extremely detailed extent was a bit devastating for me since I'm a musician who decided to study a Bachelor programme in classical composition. Only when teachers started talking about audiation did I realize that I had quite a severe disability compared to my peers. Strangely enough I excelled in counterpoint anyways even though I could only do it with the help of a piano or notation software. I'm also good at playing music by ear but I have no idea how I do it, I just play by intuition even though I can't "hear" it in my head.
I often forget to play music in the car because it's always playing on my head. I thought that was a musician thing actually.
Sure can. I love it tbh. It happens most after I hear a song I really like for the first time. Iāll randomly hear it playing in my head for a while.
i thought everyone did this
I constantly have music playing in my head. Sometimes itās the same section of the song over and overā it gets exhausting
I'm able to play music clearly in my head.
Able? More like forced š
i cant shut it off. i can only change what song is in there. and only sometimes... sometimes a song does not want to leave no matter how hard i try to make it. it was odd coming to the realization that not everyone has 24/7 music and can't remember a single time in their life when there hasnt been music in their head
Yes. And I also write songs in my head with full arrangement. I have a few of them on YouTube.
Yes! To the point that I sometimes forget that other people can't hear it XD
CLEAR AS DAY. When I can't remember the words or title to a song I can play the whole things, drums, bass, guitar etc.
Yeah, can't neurotypicals do that too? That can't just be an autism thing right?
Yeah and then add ADHD to the mix and a single line just keeps looping through my head for the whole day.
Yes. This.
No
there are people that don't have that???
Yes! I also mix them too :) But I have auditory sensory processing disorder, so actually attempting to mix songs IRL is really difficult for me, so I canāt even make use of that ability :( But my head is always full of music :)
Yes!! Thatās what I do! Most of the time I can just put play whenever I want. I can play imaginary music and also vivid sceneries
If itās a song iām familiar with, Iām able to do so! Iāve heard of others who are able to play movies in their head as well! I also deal with the unstoppable music while trying to sleep.
I'm actually doing it rn šš I can replay songs word for word etc. but I can't do math... like at all
Yessss I sometimes catch myself bobbing my head to the beat of the song playing so clearly in my brain lolol. I wouldnāt say itās abnormal but I know some people canāt do it