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

Schädlich, Melanie; Erlacher, Daniel (2018). Lucid music – A pilot study exploring the experiences and potential of music-making in lucid dreams. Dreaming, 28(3), pp. 278-286. American Psychological Association 10.1037/drm0000073

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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 perfor-
mance in waking life.

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