Learning NLP inevitably demands that you learn sub-modalities. Many practitioners question whether you need the sub-modalities model to effect change in yourself or clients. One way or another, our nervous system uses sub-modalities to encode meaning. More on this in later articles. Today, we'll talk about sub-modalities of the auditory representational system.

In NLP, we consider sub-modalities to be the particular characteristics or qualities of a specific representational system. For instance, auditory sub-modalities include sound volume, sound distance, sound location, sound tonality and so forth and so on.

In the case of manipulating auditory sub-modalities in NLP, a great analogy to use is your stereo. Using your remote control, you can manipulate sound until you hear it just the way you intend it to. You can pan sound from the left to the right speaker, increase the volume, alter the equalization and so forth. Likewise, you can do this in your hallucinatory apparatus.

So, what are some of the auditory sub-modalities that you can adjust to change you reaction to the sounds you hallucinate?

1. Mono vs. stereo

2. Loud or quiet

3. Inflections (words marked out)

4. Pauses

5. Duration

6. Rhythm (regular, irregular)

7. Volume

8. Variations: looping, fading in and out, moving location

9. Tonality

10. Qualities of sound (raucous, soft, windy)

11. Static vs. moving

12. Location

13. Tempo

14. Soft vs. rasping

15. Frequency (high vs. low pitch)

16. Source of sound

17. Cadence

18. Timbre (characteristic sound, such as a voice like Bugs Bunny)

19. Movement of the source

20. Tempo

21. Voice: whose voice, one or many

22. Background sound vs. only sound

Now, to the most important part of the article (and of NLP practice). Print out this list and find a buddy to play with. Now, close your eyes and hear a neutral sound in your mind. It might be the sound of a train pulling into a station, of a car starting or the introductory melody of 20th century FOX movies.

Then, ask your buddy to guide you into transforming that sound. They should simply say: "now, make the sound speed up." Then: "now, bring it back to normal tempo." And then move on to the next item.

Practice and please post your comments and questions on the blog to stimulate one another. Tomorrow, we'll learn more about kinesthetic sub-modalities.