Lucid music – A pilot study exploring the experiences and potential of music-making in lucid dreams.

Abstract

In a lucid dream, the dreamer knows that he or she is dreaming and can thus deliberately carry out actions. The original goal of this study was to investigate musical practice in lucid dreams and its possible effects as well as the quality of the experiences. A total of 5 musicians were interviewed about their lucid dreams in which they had played instruments and sung. However, the interviewees were more interested in pleasure and inspiration than in actual practice and skill improvement. Therefore, the results provide more general information than planned. It could be shown that singing and playing musical instruments mostly work well in lucid dreams. Lucid music dreams were often accompanied by positive emotions and led to several positive effects in waking life, like facilitated guitar playing and enhanced confidence. Two interviewees especially enjoyed improvising solo in lucid dreams. The participants also emphasized the creative and inspirational potential of lucid music dreams, which is worth further investigation. Combining previous research on athletic practice in lucid dreams and the clues obtained from this study, it is likely that musicians could use lucid dreams to improve their skills. Future studies should further explore the potential of lucid music dreams for both creativity and performance in waking life.

The effectiveness of lucid dreaming practice on waking task performance: A scoping review of evidence and meta-analysis.

“…In general, sound was perceived as more intense (Schädlich & Erlacher, 2018a) and vivid (Schädlich & Erlacher, 2018b) than in wakefulness. The feelings of touch, temperature, smell, and taste often felt realistic (Schädlich & Erlacher, 2018b), but not always.…”

“…Participants were mostly recruited online, and their nationality was not always specified (Erlacher & Schredl, 2010; Grummer, 2019; Schädlich et al, 2017; Stumbrys et al, 2016). One study recruited German participants (Erlacher et al, 2012), whereas the interview studies recruited participants from different countries namely, Germany (Schädlich & Erlacher, 2018a, 2018b), Spain (Schädlich & Erlacher, 2018a, 2018b), United Kingdom (Schädlich & Erlacher, 2018b), Norway (Schädlich & Erlacher, 2018b), United States (Schädlich & Erlacher, 2018a, 2018b), and New Zealand (Schädlich & Erlacher, 2018b).…”

“…Two qualitative studies (Schädlich & Erlacher, 2018a, 2018b) explored in detail the overall experiences of practitioners and their perceptions of lucid dreaming environments when practicing measurable skills such as sports, singing, and playing of musical instruments. Complications with LDP were identified by both qualitative studies as well as the remaining articles included in this review.…”

“…Overall, findings indicate that practicing a measurable task during a lucid dream can enhance subsequent performance during wakefulness. According to the interview (Schädlich & Erlacher, 2018a, 2018b) and survey (Erlacher et al, 2012) studies included in this review, lucid dreamers have the impression that their waking performance improves following LDP of tasks such as sport and music skills. This is also supported by quantitative evidence which reported significant improvement in motor task performance after both a single (Erlacher & Schredl, 2010; Schädlich et al, 2017; Stumbrys et al, 2016) and multiple nights (Grummer, 2019) of LDP.…”

“…Movements and Senses. Dreamers reported that at times they were not able to carry out movements or exercises as planned due to experiencing difficulties such as heavy limbs (Schädlich & Erlacher, 2018b) and stiff hands (Schädlich & Erlacher, 2018a) which restricted their practice. LDP was sometimes also impaired by disruptions of the dreamer's senses (e.g., disturbed and quiet sound, disrupted vision impairing the dreamer from correctly placing her fingers on the guitar; Schädlich & Erlacher, 2018a).…”