Do you ever remember your dreams? Chances are that if you do remember them, they are the ones that seem most realistic. Many people report dreaming about things that they encounter daily. Such is the case for musicians from all walks of life who report dreams that involve music or inspire lyrics.
Recalling dreams is not a new phenomenon. In fact, most people can recall a portion of what they dream. Some people even go so far as to maintain a sleep diary — writing down everything that they remember upon awakening. Research has found dream recall for people involved in athletic and post-traumatic events. Now, a new study has found that people who engage in musical activities are more likely to have dreams about music.
In Marh, 2016, the American Psychological Association’s journal Dreaming published research by Lukas Vogelsang and his colleagues. The research proposed that participating in musical activities while awake would result in more dreams about music. The research was based on the continuity hypothesis (Domhoff, 2003; Schredl, 2003) which purports that waking-life activities are incorporated into dreams.
An example of someone whose music was inspired by a dream is Paul McCartney. He reported that the lyrics to his song “Yesterday” were completely recalled from a dream. This is an example of how people take their waking-life with them when they go to sleep. Vogelsang’s research looks at examples from research participants that points to potential reasons music may be incorporated into dreams.
The study included 144 participants who were divided into four groups–psychology students, music students, choir members and a rest group. Each participant provided demographic information and completed a questionnaire which outlined their exposure to music. Specifically, they were asked about the amount of time that they spent engaged in music both actively and passively. For most participants, passive engagement included doing something while listening to music.
Results indicated that, on average, participants were involved with music in their waking-life for about four to five hours per day. This time was split up even further with about eighty-two minutes of practice, 111 minutes of passive listening and 42 minutes of active listening. On average, participants reported their first training with music at six years of age. When responding to questions about the frequency of dreaming about music, most participants reported that they had at least monthly dreams regarding music. It was noted that the group reporting the fewest dreams related to music was the psychology group.
“The main findings of the study indicate that the amount of time invested in
musical activities during the day is directly related to the estimated percentage of
music dreams,” Vogelsang and his colleagues wrote.
The limitations of the study include the fact that participants knew that researchers were looking for specific information about dreams involving music. This may have biased results towards more dreams involving music.
The results of the research supports the findings from the continuity hypothesis. People are more likely to dream about what they experience on a daily basis. Specifically for this study, the more time spent actively engaged in music, the higher the percentage of dreams involving music. This could mean dreams about music in general or even future music and lyrics. This study also teases at the possibility that musicians will make their next big hit while sleeping.
Engaged in music activities? You should get a good night’s rest so that they can use your sleep time to dream about the music or your first/next big hit.