UK - Experience: a head injury made me a musical prodigy

[edgarshade]

Not about drugs but an interesting example of synaesthesia, which is relevant to psychedelic drugs and musical appreciation/ability.

Guardian

Derek Amato
The Guardian, Friday 12 October 2012 22.59 BST

'I just moved over and started playing the piano – like I'd been doing it all my life'

It was fairly typical of me to imagine I could dive into the shallow end of a swimming pool and emerge unscathed – at 39, I still had a pretty devil-may-care attitude to life. I'd imagined rolling as I hit the water, barely breaking the surface. But as my head hit the tiles, I knew I'd miscalculated badly, and that the injury was serious. I shot up out of the water like a rocket, hands over my ears, convinced they were bleeding. My friends ran over to drag me out, but I was unable to stand, and although I could see they were talking to me, I couldn't hear a word.

In the early evening, I went over to my friend Rick's house to say goodbye. Rick is a musician and lives in an apartment full of instruments. We were just sitting around, talking, when I felt an intense, utterly compelling need to touch his piano. I just moved over and started playing – there was no transition, it was all at once, like I'd been doing it all my life.

I'd played guitar in a couple of little rock bands when I was young but I'd never progressed beyond that on any instrument. Yet here I was, producing a fluid melody I'd never heard before. Rick stared, open-mouthed. "Derek," he said, "What's going on?" I had no answer. I just wanted to keep playing.

The "blobs" had resolved into moving black and white blocks in my mind, that seemed to flow from left to right in a wave pattern. My fingers simply followed the movement of the squares. I realised the music had been writing itself in my unconscious ever since the accident – now, at last, I was simply letting it out into the world. The sense of release was incredible, and I kept playing for hours.

More...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2012/oct/12/experience-head-injury-musical-prodigy

 

[Flynnal]

Wow! Wish I had something like that!

 

[RobotRipping]

yeah maybe i should try smashing my head (again). I've heard of others being able to draw insanely well after an accident. All i got were some broken teeth and scars So if this is true, then maybe in the future we could figure out a way to sort of flip that switch in a normal person and have insane musical ability. I'd be willing to pay quite a bit of money for that surgery.