LNELecture Notes in Education, Arts, Management and Social Science3083-10912705-053XBio-Byword Scientific Publishing Pty. Ltd.10.26689/LNE.v4i5.15060ArticleMusic—Colour—Emotion Cross-Modal Association Research Review——From the Perspective of Cultural Differences and Adolescent Music Aesthetic Educationhttps://artdesignp.com/journal/LNE/4/5/10.26689/LNE.v4i5.15060XieYidan2026452026-05-26While cross-modal correspondence theory establishes the conceptual foundation for exploring auditory-visual associations, the intricate triadic interplay among music, colour, and emotion has emerged as a pivotal frontier in sensory cognition and pedagogical research. To date, international scholarship has postulated two primary theoretical frameworks: the direct association hypothesis and the emotion-mediated hypothesis. Most of the existing empirical research takes Western cultural groups as its research subjects, but systematic research focusing on Chinese children aged 6-18 years old is relatively rare. Local unique cultural elements, such as Chinese pentatonic music, traditional Chinese musical instruments, and traditional symbolic colours, will create a new audio-visual perception mode for residents, but systematic research on the stratified development of elementary education, junior middle education, and senior middle education stages is relatively rare. Despite the effectiveness of using colour in teaching music in foreign countries, empirical studies about its effect in China are relatively rare. Based on the original research proposal literature materials, this paper categorizes the literature on the relationship between music, colour and emotion from three aspects, which include theoretical mechanism, cross-cultural empirical research and educational application. Through this paper, we can see the agreement and contradictions in current research, the prominent gaps in research in the Chinese adolescent sample group and indigenous culture stimulus and put forward the research directions for follow-up localized music aesthetic education. This review may give theoretical basis for development of cultural adaptation colour-assisted music education instruments and cross-cultural empirical evidence to the cross-modal correspondences theory.Cross-modal correspondence,Music-colour association,Emotion mediation,Cross-cultural sensory perception,Adolescent music aesthetic education

[1] Spence C, 2011, Crossmodal Correspondences: A Tutorial Review. Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics, 73(4): 971–995. [2] Barbiere JM, Vidal A, Zellner DA, 2007, The Colour of Music: Correspondence Through Emotion. Empirical Studies of the Arts, 25(2): 193–208. [3] Lindborg PM, Friberg AK, 2015, Colour Association with Music Is Mediated by Emotion: Evidence From an Experiment Using a CIE Lab Interface and Interviews. PLOS ONE, 10(12): e0144013. [4] Yau V, 1994, Colour in China. British Journal of Aesthetics, 34(2): 151–162. [5] Bogushevskaya V, 2024, A Study in Scarlet: Cultural Memory of the Tropes Related to the Colour Red, Female Countenance, and Onstage Makeup in the Sinophone World. Semiotica, 261: 209–225. [6] Lin K, Zhang D, Chen R, 2024, The Emotional Bridge: Exploring the Association Between Colour and Western and Chinese Music. Proceedings of the 17th International Symposium on Visual Information Communication and Interaction: 112–118. [7] Carioti F, Berlingeri M, Bodrato M, 2025, Music Education at School: Too Little and Too Late? Evidence From a Longitudinal Study on Music Training in Preadolescents. Bollettino dell’Associazione Italiana di Musicologia, 10(1): 2704. [8] Newton M, Crawford R, Southcott J, 2025, The Problem of Secondary School Music Enrolments: Tensions Between Relevance, Engagement and Improving Musical Skills and Knowledge. Music Education Research, 27(1): 1–18. [9] Pridmore R, 1992, Music and Colour: Relations in the Psychophysical Perspective. Colour Research & Application, 17(1): 57–61. [10] Palmer SE, Schloss KB, Xu Z, et al., 2013, Music–Colour Associations Are Mediated by Emotion. PNAS, 110(22): 8836–8841. [11] Whiteford KL, Schloss KB, Helwig NE, et al., 2018, Colour, Music, and Emotion: Bach to the Blues. i-Perception, 9(6): 1–27. [12] Martino G, Marks LE, 2001, Synesthesia: Strong and Weak. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 10(2): 61–65. [13] Piaget J, 1952, The Origins of Intelligence. International Universities Press. [14] Steinberg L, 2005, Cognitive and Affective Development in Adolescence. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 9(2): 69–74. [15] Cimbalo RS, Beck L, Weiner MA, 1978, Colour Responses to Musical Emotion in Children Ages Eight Through Twelve. Journal of Psychology, 133(2): 303–304. [16] Wang T, Shu S, Mo L, 2014, Blue or Red? The Effects of Colour on the Emotions of Chinese People. Asian Journal of Social Psychology, 17(2): 152–158. [17] Gao XP, Xin JH, Sato T, et al., 2007, Analysis of Cross Cultural Colour Emotion. Colour Research and Application, 32(3): 223–229. [18] Cutietta RA, Haggerty K, 1987, A Comparative Study of Colour Association With Music at Various Age Levels. Journal of Research in Music Education, 35(2): 78–91. [19] Martinović Bogojević J, 2021, Hearing Colour, Seeing Sound—Visual Expression of Music Perception. Proceedings of the International Scientific Professional Meeting Art and Education, Academy of Arts in Novi Sad: 382–393. [20] Poast M, 2000, Colour Music: Visual Colour Notation for Musical Expression. Leonardo, 33(3): 215–221.