I See Music in Colors
Sep 04, 2026
So, I have a confession to make.
Even though music is a major part of my life…
And even though playing piano, singing in choirs, and arranging music are some of my greatest passions…
I struggle to sight read music.
Yup. And its really bad.
If you put notes in front of me cold, I’m toast. Dead in the water, and sinking fast. And this has been a problem my whole life.
As a kid, piano lessons were the WORST because teachers would point at the music in front of me and say, “Can’t you count? Can’t you read?” and try as I might, the notes all seemed to jumble together on the page.
So then, THEY would play the phrase or the melody right there on the piano. However instead of being bugged or annoyed, I would watch. I would listen. And it turns out I could replay it exactly as they had. Note by note, phrase by phrase, I memorized my music by watching others play instead.
All while the notes and their pointy dagger-like tails danced and skipped and mocked me from the page.
(Photo: Don’t those notes look scary?!)
It turns out I have a condition that made this process of watching and hearing easier. Because instead of beats and dots and lines and measures, instead I saw colors. This is known as Synesthesia where parts of my brain seemingly crisscross with each other to trigger different senses. For example, the note of C is white/clear, D is green, E is red, F is orange, and so on.
But the piano lessons went on, and I continued to beat my head on the piano keys while everyone threw their hands in the air with frustration until my piano teachers, my parents, and I reached a ceasefire agreement when I hit the 8th grade. I could quit lessons, as long as I would at least learn to play hymns in church.
And thus all parties went our separate ways bruised… but with our dignity intact.
Quitting piano was the best thing that could have happened to me. Because instead of learning music how EVERYONE ELSE saw it, I now had the space to practice it and learn it the way MY BRAIN knew how.
That’s when things changed.
I started to hear ideas on the radio, or in my head, and attempted to work them out on the piano. And instead of learning the music in front of me, I was learning the music inside of me.
Suddenly music transformed from a boring, dreary, and dreadful annoyance to a world that sparked my imagination and felt alive.
And as I continued to listen, imitate, build, and practice, I got better and better.
Technically, no one person taught me how to “write” music. I’ve never taken a formal lesson or class. But as I’ve listened to other great musicians, and become insatiably curious about composers far more skilled than I, all of a sudden… I found many teachers everywhere I looked.
(Photo: Wait, can’t you see Debussy’s Claire de Lune too?)
Skip ahead a few decades and today, I’ve had pieces I’ve written performed by choirs in universities. Church choirs across the US have sung my arrangements, and piano has been a way that I’ve been able to connect with people wherever I’ve lived.
In fact my first full length solo concert was performed in Harare, Zimbabwe, of all places.
True story actually.
All while I struggled (and continue to struggle) to sight read music… in the ways that most other people can.
Here’s the point: My inability, my challenge, my obstacle… whatever you want to call it… of not being able to read notes comfortably, forced me to create music in other ways. And after years of working at it, I now create music in ways others can’t.
Which brings me to you.
(Photo: My first piano concert. Working really hard there, folks.)
You are not like everyone else.
You have unique skills, unique proclivities, and a way of looking at the world that is unmistakably and radically YOU.
How have you created work arounds? How have you found your angle?
Because when you can’t do things like the others, then you’re on the path to doing things in ways others can’t.
Lean into it. Give yourself time, but don’t give up. You’ll make it work soon enough.
And stop beating your head on the piano.
There are a lot more colorful ways to make music.
Christian
CHRISTIAN HANSEN has gone behind the scenes in some of the biggest organizations in the world to find out the reasons why some people get chosen and why others don’t. As the #1 bestselling and LinkedIn Top Ten ranked author of “The Influence Mindset: The Art & Science of Getting People to Choose You” Christian helps teams and organizations who want to stand out and be the obvious choice. With degrees from Brigham Young University and The London School of Economics, he’s helped thousands of individuals position and sell themselves. A fan of international communication, history, and choral music, he currently lives in Utah with his family. Reach him at: TheChristianHansen.com
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