Some people can see music is called Synesthesia

Some people can actually see music. The medical term is called Synesthesia . This is how music looks described by someone who lives with this condition.

"I actually have two types of synesthesia: audio-visual, where I can visualize moving 3-dimensional images exactly timed to musical notes, and neuromotor, were I feel a slight jolt or pulse in my nerves/muscles exactly timed to musical notes. From what I've been told, these types of synesthesia are actually quite common on their own. (I assume most performers and dancers probably have neuromotor, e.g., Elvis with the twitching of the legs). But what's uncommon is the "combination" of the two. I once came across a figure that less than 5% of synesthetes have this rare combination. And maybe this explains why I've always worked at music or entertainment venues."

"Almost everyone that finds out I have this wishes they had it).Thankfully I can turn it off and on or else my brain would explode!"

"On the other hand, the 3-D show in my head enhances the overall experience. Every song, concert and performance has it's own unique visual soundtrack. My brain sometimes also infuses recognisable images to overlap with the patterns, e.g., "Stairway To Heaven" by Led Zeppelin has a winding stairway up to the clouds; "Rock & Roll Star" by Oasis has images of legendary artists from the past...

"For some reason details are much more clearly defined when it suddenly rains or when we have a winter storm (perhaps due to the humidity or atmospheric changes) Also these 3-dimensional patterns are constantly evolving and expanding, constantly adding more specific details.

"The images I visualised to 'Hey Jude' 10 years ago is totally different to what I can visualise now. Another thing I'd like to try one day is to 'project' what I can see in my head in front of crowds as moving 3-dimensional holograms. How will people react to a multi sensory experience if I did The Eagles and The Stones to Adele and Nirvana? It would revolutionise the music industry. In the '60s people had a psychedelic experience on an individual level...this would bring the psychedelic experience to masses. Just something to ponder..."

Dictionary

synesthesia
syn·es·the·sia
the production of a sense impression relating to one sense or part of the body by stimulation of another sense or part of the body.

synesthesia is the association of sounds with colors. For some, everyday sounds such as doors opening, cars honking, or people talking can trigger seeing colors. For others, colors are triggered when musical notes and/or keys are being played. People with synesthesia related to music may also have perfect pitch because their ability to see/hear colors aids them in identifying notes or keys

Synesthesia is a neurological condition defined as an involuntary crossing or joining of sensory experience. Information received through one sense experience, (ex. viewing letters or hearing sound) triggers an automatic, consistent response in another sense perception (ex. color or smell). Each response remains consistent over time; however, every synesthete’s stimulus/response experience is unique. Synesthesia has been reported to affect approximately 1% of the population.

More recent awareness in terms of the increased capability of scientists to look into the brain, and observe that synesthesia is “real”.

While synesthesia has been explored in behavioral and neuroimaging experiments, what remains unknown is its genetic basis. Synesthesia is an ideal condition for genetic analysis for 3 reasons: (1) A battery of perceptual tests allows confident identification of synesthetes, (2) synesthesia clusters in families and appears to be inherited, and (3) synesthetic perception may result from increased cross-talk between neighboring neural areas, which suggests a set of candidate genes.

In 2001 Ramachandran and Hubbard proposed that grapheme-colour synesthesia might be due to a genetic mutation that leads to incomplete pruning between adjacent grapheme selective regions and colour sensitive region V4 (the "cross-activation" theory).