This article is about the legendary music frequency of 432Hz which supposedly resonates with the universe and all living things but in a scientific way. Probably. Maybe. Perhaps. So why the crazy title? We’ll get to that. Before we dive into this very delicate, at times pseudo-academic and suspiciously metaphysical topic, some clarifications of basic definitions are needed. The subject’s fuzziness also dictates that we keep everything simple and ordered so that’s exactly what we’ll do.

What is frequency?

To know the value of an object’s frequency is to know how often waves caused by its vibration pass through a fixed place in space in a given time interval. For example, if the time it takes a number of waves (caused by picking a guitar string) equal to X to pass through a single point in space is an hour, this would mean that the string’s frequency is equal to X per hour. When we’re using the Herz measurement we’re looking at the number of waves passing per second. Depending on the instrument and how it’s been calibrated, each tone has its own frequency – this is pretty much what allows us to tell them apart. In the case of 432Hz it’s the tone A we’re looking at. This means the musical instrument has been adjusted in such a manner that the frequency value of it’s A tone is 432Hz or 432 vibrations per second.

What is resonance?

You know the expression “and then the fat lady sang”? Suddenly, glasses and vases all over the place start cracking and exploding like crazy. THIS is resonance. According to supporters of the cosmic frequency hypothesis, the 432Hz music is supposed to have the exact opposite effect.  No, it doesn’t mend broken glass. Allow me to explain: When you hit, strike, strum, pluck or somehow disturb a musical instrument you cause it to vibrate at a certain frequency. Each object can naturally vibrate by a definite amount of standing wave patterns.

A musical instrument can be compelled to vibrate at its natural frequency (sometimes referred to as its harmonics), at one of its standing wave patterns, by another instrument vibrating at the same frequency. Resonance means the first object is literally pushing the second one, which it is interconnected with, at one of its possible harmonics, forcing it into vibrational motion.

What does this have to do with me?

Physics. Matter is, literally, made of vibrations. You, as you hopefully know, are made of matter. See the pattern? Even if you refuse to be scientific about it, there’s a simple logical argument you can use to convince yourself. Since music has a lot to do with you and how you feel, it’s safe to say frequency and resonance have a lot to do with you as well, because they’re VERY important to music.

How do you change the frequency of an instrument?

This can be a fairly easy task for a guitar owner, who’ll just have to calibrate his tuner, but for a flutist, it might just be impossible. Most musical instruments can be adjusted to vibrate at a certain frequency but there are a few exceptions. Woodwind instruments, for example, can’t play in 432Hz because to change their pitch would mean changing their whole internal structure since that’s what defines their harmonics. So if the flutist decides he wants to change his life and play in 432Hz from now on, he’d better have some cash waiting under his mattress because he would need to buy a brand new flute, specifically built for this frequency. Now, a logical question would be why his flute wasn’t made to play in 432Hz to begin with. The answer is standard tuning.

What’s standard tuning?

For well over a century all musical instruments have been tuned to 440Hz. Western European countries kind of made standard tuning a thing. France adopted it (at 435Hz) and then Italy decided to join in. In 1884 the great Italian composer Giuseppe Verdi even wrote a letter to the Music Commission of the Italian Government saying something along the lines of “Having a standard tuning is cool and everything but whaddya guys say we drop to 432? It’s pretty awesome and no one will notice!” As luck would have it, their answer was something like “Yeah, shut up Giuseppe, no one cares.”

The 440Hz standard pitch was first accepted by the American Federation of Musicians in 1917 and by 1940 the US had already introduced it worldwide until in the mid-50’s it became the ISO standard, ISO being the International Organization for Standardization.

Why isn’t 432Hz the standard?

Yeah, why is that? If the 432Hz tuning is so great why didn’t we just adopt it as a standard? Believe you me, I wish I knew. What I can tell you for sure is that there are more conspiracy theories on the subject than there are stars in the sky. They typically include scheming capitalists, horrible Nazis, treacherous aliens and bloodthirsty reptilians.

Before the reign of 440 began, people used a wide variety of tunings. This obviously means not everyone was enlightened about 432’s attributed cosmic properties. Followers of the 432Hz hype claim that even in the past people have been aware that this was, in fact, the more natural frequency. Although this is true in some cases it definitely wasn’t a global phenomenon. There’s even a “back to 432Hz” committee aiming to reintroduce people to the wondrous qualities of the “divine frequency” in the hopes that the music industry will decide to change the standard.

Water crystals under the effect of different frequencies

What’s so special about 432Hz?

“If you want to find the secrets of the universe, think in terms of energy, frequency and vibration.” – said Nikola Tesla this one time, giving 432Hz proponents yet another strong foundation for their claims. “What we have called matter is energy, whose vibration has been so lowered as to be perceptible to the senses. There is no matter.” – basically agreed Einstein, unaware of the havoc this would cause in the music community a few decades later. Much like a meal’s overall flavor depends on the ingredients put in it, living things are confined in and defined by the various vibration patterns they’re made of.

The effects of vibrations on matter have long been scientifically proven. We’ve all seen what different wave patterns can do to water molecules, for example. The 432Hz frequency has a mythological fame for being in tune with the cosmos itself. Now, what does this mean? By the principle of resonance it, figuratively speaking, allegedly “touches” the living soul, forcing it to vibrate at its own rate, gently leading it back to its natural, original state. Thanks to its presumably perfect mathematical qualities, people believe it has the capability to “heal” matter by bringing peace and balance to a system. Making music better is just one of its effects.

How does it make music better?

Hard to say. Unfortunately, the only source of data here are different people saying different things. That’s a first, right? Some report experiencing 432Hz music as more “pure”, “clear”, “bright” and so on. Others say they don’t find any difference. As it is with many a supernatural phenomena, opinions vary. But then again, what is “supernatural”? Author Arthur C. Clarke stated that “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” This would mean that words such as “supernatural”, “metaphysical”, “astral” and the like could very well become obsolete at a certain point in time, when we know enough about how the universe actually works. So completely dismissing subjective statements based solely on intangible personal experience would be a bit too rush. Maybe there is such a thing as a uniform cosmic frequency and maybe 432Hz is the closest we’ve got to it so far. We just don’t know yet. The fact that so many listeners report a clear sensatory and even emotional difference between A432 and A440 at least makes the possibility worth exploring.

Who used it?

According to some researchers, a lot of the archaic Egyptian instruments that we’ve found are tuned to 432Hz. They say the same about ancient Greeks, even going so far as to claiming Orpheus, the god of music, death and rebirth, keeper of the music of transformation, tuned his instruments at 432Hz. How one can make such a claim and still remain part of the scientific community is beyond my comprehension…

Anyway, let’s move to a more recent time. As we already mentioned, the renowned Giuseppe Verdi placed his A at exactly 432Hz on account of it being perfectly suitable for opera voices. Another research, this time on Tibetan monks, found out some of them used this pitch when crafting musical instruments like the Tibetan singing bowl.

There’s also a number of contemporary musicians who reported that retuning to 432Hz has led to some improvement to their acts, like a more “laid-back” flow of their performances and better audience response. Some musicians, however, say trying A432 has done absolutely nothing for them. We’ve agreed upon not taking sides and letting you decide for yourself.

The Nazis?!

Finally, the Nazis. My most favorite thing in the whole world is blaming the Nazis for stuff that just happened randomly, stuff we kind of need an explanation for or stuff we need to prove without having any actual data to present in an argument except for personal opinion. There’s a real theory, which many people believe, I can’t possibly tell you why, that Joseph Goebels, the Nazi minister of propaganda, dictated the transition from 432Hz to 440Hz with the intention of, listen to this, making us feel bad. By making people feel in a certain way, the Nazi state would turn them into prisoners of a cheerless mindset, cursing them to live a morbid life of sad consciousness. How this would have supposedly furthered the goals and ambitions of the Nazi state remains unknown but one thing is certain – Hitler just wanted to make the world a horrible place and force people to hate him because he hated himself. True story!

Okay, so does it REALLY work?

You know what? This article has gotten huge already and there have been some pretty peculiar experiments conducted by some pretty extraordinary people. We’ll do a follow-up on this and continue to explore the topic. I’m sure you’ll find some of the theories about the “magical” 432Hz fascinating – I sure did.

Next stop: acoustics in prehistoric caves. Stay tuned, people! Meanwhile, head over to Drooble for more Music knowledge!