Claims About Monofrequencies and Sound Healing

This page offers ancient and modern wisdom about the frequency-specific uses of sound.

Recent Scientific Writing

“Today, some sound healing therapists, meditation headphones, and relaxation music apps use tones of particular frequencies, or music that contains those frequencies, to achieve goals for healing and self care.  Although the ancient Greeks knew or intuited things that took years for science to catch up with, they were also wrong about many things, as science has borne out. For example, there is no scientific evidence that music’s ability to heal or to cause changes in mood or any other cellular effects derives primarily from the specific frequencies of tones used. This has been exhaustively studied.

“The notion also doesn’t make logical sense, for much shamanistic healing was conducted by singers who would have had no way to calibrate their precise frequencies from one occasion to the next, or from one tribe to another.

“The power of music, then probably comes not from specific frequencies, but from trance-inducing rhythms, or a combination of musical elements as they stand in relation to one another, elements including harmonic structure, melody, tonality (major or minor), rhythm, and tempo. In other words, whatever effect a piece of music or sequence of sounds has on you, it’s unlikely that it would stop having that effect if it were shifted by a few Hertz (cycles per second) in one direction or the other.”

Daniel J Levitin: “I Heard There Was A Secret Chord – Music As Medicine” – W. W. Norton & Company, August 27, 2024

 

Solfeggio Tones Explainer Video

A Fun List of Songs in 528Hz – The Love Frequency

Solfeggio Tones Notation

The Solfeggio Tones – Score (click the link or pic to download) shows the Solfeggio Tones in relationship to A=440 tuning. Remember: the Hz (frequencies) of the Solfeggio Tones themselves do not change!

There’s a chart further down this page called A Quick Summary that shows how the Tones align to A=432Hz too: five of the Tones align closely with A=440Hz tuning, while only four align closely with A=432Hz tuning.

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What Do Monofrequencies Do?

Solfeggio Tones – Why We Call Them “Tones” Not “Frequencies”

The Solfeggio Tones have been identified as transformative vibrations that have positive effects. We call them “tones” rather than “frequencies” here because, in the ancient days where these tones were “discovered,” it was not possible to create a single-frequency sound of any kind, nor was it possible to precisely measure the frequency of any sound. Those particular abilities came to civilization much later than when the Solfeggio tones were first identified, and in those ancient days the tones themselves could not be reproduced in pure sine wave form. That capability only happened when electronic oscillation was mastered in the early 1910s. This delightful explainer from the University of Kansas gives you more.

So, the first Solfeggio tones practitioners had to rely on much more organic ways of creating sound, and could only perpetuate a particular frequency – which we now measure in Hertz abbreviated Hz) – through sheer memory. One assumes some more-than-usual skill was involved in the memorization and reproduction of the specific tone required. Since the human ear can resolve differences in frequencies of as little as 2Hz (depending on the abilities of one’s ears, of course), it is reasonable to assume that pre-modern Solfeggio practitioners would have been able to come within very close range of the precise frequencies claimed for the Solfeggio tones.

Beats

A quick digression into “binaural beats” is needed here.

While it might not seem like much, 2Hz is enough to create a kind of “out of tune-ness” between two tones. In fact, if we have a tone of 40Hz and a tone of 42Hz sounding at the same time, the difference between them is also expressed (somewhat confusingly) as Hertz. If the 40Hz tone plays in your left ear, and 42Hz tone plays in your right ear, you will experience a sensation of tension and release as the sound waves move in and out of phase with each other. If the tones are made with a pure tone oscillator, this out-of-phase-ness will sound like a kind of wah wah or beat at a fixed number of iterations per second; in this example, the measurement of that beat is 2Hz. Human hearing bottoms out around 20Hz, so this “sound” is inaudible, although it can be experienced as what we now call a “binaural beat.” It’s much easier to notice binaural beats when, as in this example, they are played in each ear, although one can experience binaural beats anywhere there is sound from more than one oscillator or instrument.

Binaural beats occur in nature as well as in intentional sound. Crickets are perhaps the best example; what sounds like a pulse of chirping is actually the binaural beats made by slight differences in the frequencies (pitches) created by the crickets. An orchestra will always be susceptible to binaural beats by design; barbershop quartets use them (in combination with harmonics) to create a richness that can’t be replicated electronically or digitally. Piano tuners use binaural beats to tune the unison strings of pianos: when there are no perceptible beats, the strings are in tune with one another.

Imagine two singers each creating the same, particular Solfeggio tone. If they are in absolute tune with one another, there are no beats created. If one singer modifies their frequency by 1Hz, this creates a 1Hz binaural beat. Within reason, one can create binaural beats of any frequency, although at some point the beats devolve into dissonances, similar to what would happen if one struck two adjoining keys on a piano at the same time. We say, when attempting to match the pitch of a given reference frequency, that we are either “in tune” or “out of tune” with the pitch, to within our particular human ability of 2Hz to do so. “Tuning up” is our attempt to minimize the binaural beats that could result if we don’t first agree to a reference pitch around which the rest of our voice or instrument can arrange the various tones we want to sing or play.

Therefore, being precisely in tune with one another becomes a auditory device that can be used at will. We can create dissonance, harmony, or engage binaural beats by using micro-tones, as required by the music we choose to make.

Tuning and Tuning Reference Pitches/Frequencies

Musical instruments, as we’ve mentioned, are designed to take full advantage of their particular abilities to produce sound. Pianos are much more complicated than wooden flutes, and each maximizes its resonating abilities to produce the most agreeable sounds within its particular range of frequencies.

The human voice is such an instrument and, as anyone who’s attempted to sing along with a recording probably knows, the untrained human voice is more difficult to keep “in tune” than the trained one. Vocal training engages the voice, breath, and ears, since all three are necessary to use the instrument well. Singers learn to identify their “in-tune-ness” by listening actively as they sing and making minor adjustments to pitch as required based on the demands of the music.

Instruments have some advantages, such as being able to retain a particular tuning reference pitch, note, or frequency, so that frequent tuning may not be required. Pianos and drums are examples of this advantage. Guitars, which are easier tuned in non-standard ways, offer more flexibility than pianos when it comes to applying a reference pitch to the whole instrument. This reference pitch is arbitrary and, in spite of the conspiracy theories spun around it, serves as a guideline for vocal and instrumental precision when two or more music makers play together. Without such a reference pitch, things could sound “bad” in a hurry.

Usually, reference pitches are far enough apart that they don’t result in binaural beats. Like those crickets, most of the “music” made around an agreed-upon reference pitch is within a coherent spectrum of sound, without any one pitch or frequency jumping out of the mix. Any instrument producing the note “C” for example, would be coherent with other instruments, tuned to the same reference pitch, that also play a “C.” Considering that harmonics are tied to the reference pitch as well, it makes sense to minimize the chaos that would result from ignoring a reference tuning pitch or frequency.

Establishing a tuning reference pitch has historically been a cultural – or perhaps regional – choice. Tibetan bowls, for example, especially those older than 300 or 400 years, have a unified tuning reference pitch. We suppose that this permitted bowl players to join one another harmoniously. It’s not possible to re-tune an antique, metal, Tibetan bowl, so their makers must have had a method of ensuring that their creations would sing together harmoniously. This practice has been carried on in the modern crystal singing bowls and steel hand pans (or hang drums) of the modern era.

Where modern instruments can be re-tuned on the fly, a range of possible tuning reference pitches or frequencies has come into being. In some cases, an entire orchestra adjusts to the local preference; in other cases, studio recordings have been marginally speeded up or slowed down to achieve a desired tuning reference pitch or frequency. In general, the notion of =440Hz has been a musical standard for some time, although there are exceptions, such as rock bands that intentionally tune a quarter tone higher or lower as they wish. It is much easier to obtain a pleasing tone from an electronic instrument when one wants to play outside the “normal” A=440Hz reference pitch, because the physics of most Western organic/acoustic instruments are designed to sound best within the fairly narrow range of A=430-450Hz. This is not necessarily the case for microtonal instruments, even though their harmonics are governed by the very same laws of physics.

Let us remember that the human voice is adjusted to fit within a tuning reference pitch or frequency rather than the other way around. Toning at a particular pitch/frequency, or which vowel sound to use at a particular pitch or frequency, and how to modify the tone (to add timbre or vibrator for example), are part of the musical choices a singer must make, even when it comes to a Solfeggio tone. That is, singing a tone with healing intent is a much different vocal exercise than singing the same tone with a cruel intent. Musical instruments are also capable of producing tones that match intentions; this is one of the ways to practicing an instrument sets one apart from the novice player.

However the tone is made, and with whatever intention, whether that intention is implied within the specific frequency of the tone or not, there is much more going on in that single tone than just a vibration at a certain number of cycles per second. Let us explore the harmonics of a single tone a bit more fully.

Harmonics and Solfeggio Tones

Prior to the invention of the electronic oscillator, which has the ability to produce a specified pure tone at a specific frequency, any tone – from singing to banging on a log or a drum or, as instruments became part of the civilized world, using horns or strings or vibrating metal – had to be made organically. These early sound-producing organic instruments produced a primary or fundamental tone plus all of that tone’s harmonic vibrations, as organic instruments still do today. Prior to the invention of the electronic oscillator, it was simply impossible to isolate and create a specific frequency of sound without also producing the frequencies of its harmonics. The combination of fundamental frequency and harmonics would have been how people heard and applied all monofrequency tools from the moment of their ancient origins and the awareness of them right up until today.The point to remember here is that a pure-tone oscillator is unique in that it can produce a tone that is free of harmonics.

Harmonics are integral to sound in the organic world. These heard but not-easy-to-isolate tones are part of the richness of the fundamental tone itself, and, while the mathematics of harmonics are fixed, their delightful variety changes depending on the instrument used. Plucked, bowed, or struck strings sound different to us than a brass horn or reed woodwind, which also sound different from flutes or singing bowls, even if every instrument were to make a sound at the very same pitch (frequency) or note.

With rudimentary maths, one may calculate the harmonics of any fundamental frequency or derive a fundamental frequency for which a given frequency is a harmonic. ChatGPT comes in handy for this, and the link given here offers some insight into whether or not the Solfeggio Tones are in any way related to harmonics of tones that occur organically, such as the Schumann Resonance (7.8Hz – audible to humans at its fourth harmonic, around 31Hz or B0 on the piano keyboard) or tones one might hear in nature or intentional music.

In short, only three of the nine Solfeggio Tones are related mathematically (harmonically) to what we might call “musical” tones that occur organically. The other six frequencies are, as ChatGPT points out, harmonics “of a more complex waveform with multiple frequencies” (this is explained in the last question in the chat).

ChatGPT on Solfeggio Tones and Harmonics

How Are Monofrequencies Used Today?

While there is no meaningful scientific research on this topic, the benefits claimed for the Solfeggio tones include:

There are benefits for other frequencies as well, as discovered in the modern age (post-1900), and there is scientific evidence for some of these as cited in the links offered to you here:

You may explore pure tones of any frequency with this Online Tone Generator

Online Tone Generator

 

 

 

…or generate more than one pure tone at a time to make your own binaural beats with this Multiple Tone Generator.

 

 

 

 

 

An interactive table of equal-temperament pitches by frequency (Hz) for A4 at any of eight selectable Hz: 432, 434, 438, 440, 442, 444, and 446 Hz:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Quick Tuning Summary

Here is how the tones relate to A=440 and A=432 reference tuning – the green bars indicate the nearest frequency match in each of the two tuning reference pitches.

Three of the tones – 528Hz, 852Hz, and 963Hz – split the difference between common (Western) intervals as indicated in blue, salmon, and pink.

Click for a PDF download.

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Summarizing the Solfeggio Tones

It is reasonable to note that, all historical anecdotal evidence aside, certain tones are probably more beneficial than others. It also seems reasonable that making a tone with a particular beneficial intent is a much different process than making the same tone with no intention or a hurtful purpose. Assuming that Solfeggio and other monofrequency tones are to be used for good, what’s the best way to do so?

Listening to a single frequency in isolation is boring. Hard to hold focus. The claimed benefits may or may not result. If that tone is made with an oscillator, it will be pure (free of harmonics): will the pure tone have more or less of an effect than the tone made organically with all of its harmonics intact?

If we add ambient music to the monofrequency, it becomes more interesting to us, which helps hold our focus. However, it’s necessary to ask whether the tone and ambient music are organic or electronic, since all organic tones contain the harmonics that would have been in the original monofrequency when it was “discovered” long ago, whereas electronic music may or may not contain the harmonics which were “discovered” as part of the original monofrequency.

Also, as we have seen above, choosing a particular reference tuning pitch or frequency may eliminate monofrequencies and their harmonics from a particular “song” because no “note” exists for those monofrequencies in some of the tuning reference systems used these days.

Music is the ancient organizing technology that eliminates the issues with missing monofrequencies and their harmonics, as well as holding interest, also serves another powerful purpose that is often missed by monofrequency proponents. For example, let us assume that a Solfeggio practitioner wants to treat pain and distress (174Hz) as well as trauma (417Hz) from an accident that left the patient with internal bruising (285Hz). These three pitches correspond – roughly – to F2, D4, and Ab4. The F2/D4 interval sounds pleasing to Western ears, but the D4/Ab4 dissonance – commonly called a “tri-tone” – makes the Westerner think of jazz, although it has been used in Classical music since early composers decided to defy the ancient Catholic edict against it. (In fact, for a long time, the Catholic church prohibited polyphony itself.) But I digress….

The Solfeggio practitioner would have three tone-healing frequencies to administer, and, most likely, would do so in three distinctly different applications. (YouTube is a great repository for such things – here’s a good example.) There are probably benefits from pure-tone as well as organic tone instances of the three tones we are using here, although it would be nice to know how the Solfeggio tones themselves are made (what instrument, etc) so that practitioners and patients would be able to gauge the efficacy of a particular music. It also would be nice to know about the requisite duration of immersion in a tone, since sound bathing is now a thing, and the decibel level of certain sound baths could be harmful to our human hearing equipment. Even if our Solfeggio practitioner had crystal singing bowls tuned precisely to the Solfeggio tones needed for the treatment, playing the bowls individually would likely be more pleasing to the patient than playing all three at once.

On the other hand, if the practitioner makes use of music that skillfully incorporates the Solfeggio tones, all three of the desired frequencies could be administered at once. Although the patient might not be aware of the precise moments in the music when each of the necessary tones are sounded, would not the effects be the same as if each of the tones were heard in isolation? While monofrequency practitioners might argue for individual tones, the preponderance of evidence of “the power of music” suggests otherwise: people have been “healed” by “music” for thousands of years without regard to or having knowledge of frequency and vibration. In fact, much of this healing anecdotal evidence is widely documented an occurs across all genres of music, both pre-industrial age and afterward. Much of the healing awareness of music can be found in church, although monks have chanted (Gregorian and Tibetan) for thousands of years with a healing, spiritual purpose, often without the kind of regard or awareness offered to the Solfeggio tones or other monofrequency modalities.

Therefore, we suggest that Solfeggio tones represent one – perhaps small – aspect of “healing” music, and that the notion of what music is in fact healing is as varied as there are composers to create songs and musicians to play them. Proponents of the metal genres, for example, claim healing benefits for their music that are equally as powerful as those claimed by monofrequency practitioners; both are correct. Differing types of music speak to differing types of people, and all of it has a purpose. For music consumers, the task ahead os to discover what music works best under what circumstances. Scientific research has reached the conclusion that this delightful quest for our personal power music is both safe and incredibly effective.

If your search needs a Solfeggio practitioner, or an ultrasound cancer-killer, or a stadium concert, or a singing bowl, try them! Keep the ones that you can use for yourself – anyone who claims to have a lock on healing music is selling something – and practice with them. Here’s to your continued health!