432 Hz Music: A Guide to the Theory, Science & Benefits
It is said that the 432 Hz music pitch may have benefits over the 440 Hz standard tuning because it's mathematically in tune with the Earth.
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432 Hz, otherwise known as Verdi’s A, was the music tuning standard prior to today’s tuning of 440 Hz. It is widely considered a superior tuning that makes music more pleasant to listen to. It is also said to have a positive influence on the mind and body due to its relationship with our planet.Different music invokes different emotions.Crooning love ballads make us feel romantic (or sick). Dance music makes us want to throw some shapes. Blues music leaves us reminiscing about times past, and orchestral work by the likes of Mozart can move our very being.We know there’s something to the style, the tempo, the melody, and the lyrics of our favorite songs that affects how we feel. But what is it in music that plays with our emotions? And how is our mood affected post listening?It's the frequency of the instruments and the sounds those frequencies make that cause an emotional reaction. But the overall tuning of the music arguably has the most profound and often unnoticed effect.Unfortunately, the “standard” tuning frequency used in most modern music may not be a positive one, or at least not as positive as it could be.432 Hz was the original music tuning standard, but it was lost and replaced by an inferior tuning.Modern Music Tuning – 440 HzFrom concert halls to your favorite streaming service, most music you hear today is tuned to the 440 Hz standard. Yet this tuning is barely a hundred years old.For thousands of years, from Egypt to Greece, a different frequency was used.As shown by musician Brian T. Collins, the Schiller Institute, and various physicists and scientists, the 440 Hz frequency not only lacks mathematical or scientific significance, it’s actually out of tune with the natural world and wider universe.For this reason, many believe that the 440 Hz pitch doesn’t just make music less pleasant and enjoyable, but actually has a negative effect on our mind, our consciousness, our natural energies and vibrations, and our spirituality.It is argued that the 440 Hz tuning keeps us closed off from a higher sense of meaning and disconnected from our surroundings.If that’s the case, then why is 440 Hz the modern standard?A Change of TuneIt all started in the late 19th century with a man named J.C. Deagan.Using his wealthy connections, Deagan not only began manufacturing musical instruments in 440 Hz, he began lobbying in Europe and the United States to adopt the frequency as the standard concert pitch.Deagan’s first success came in 1917, when the American Federation of Music adopted 440 Hz. By 1922, it had become the standard pitch in the United States.In the 1940s, 440 Hz began spreading the world over, and in 1953 the International Organization of Standardization established it as the international, or ISO 16, standard.To this day, it remains the music industry standard.The obvious question is why a manufacturer of musical instruments would want to establish a new standard pitch?Follow the money, as they say.In most cases, you can’t simply change the tuning of an instrument when it has been designed to be played at another frequency. It’s possible, but it won’t sound right – and can even be damaging to the instrument.In short, the change in pitch would have forced thousands, if not millions, of new instruments to be purchased. And you can bet this was very lucrative for Deagan.While some claim 440 Hz was introduced for more conspiratorial reasons, like as a form of government propaganda and mind control, it’s more likely that it was simply a way for a businessman to make more money.432 Hz – The Original TuningStradivarius violins, built throughout the late 17th and early 18th centuries, were tuned to 432 Hz The tuning used before 440 Hz became the standard was 432 Hz.In fact, researcher and musician Ananda Bosman has shown that instruments uncovered from ancient Egypt used this tuning.Then there are the Stradivarius violins, which were built throughout the late 17th and early 18th centuries and today are worth millions, owing to their superior construction and sound.These wonderful instruments were tuned to 432 Hz, and scientists have now found out why.Using software normally reserved for speech analysis, researchers found that violins from the two Cremonese luthiers mimic aspects of the human voice, a feature they argue adds to the instruments’ exceptional musical quality (1).This gives credence to the fact that 432 Hz resonates with humans and the world around us; something we will explore in greater detail in the next section.Supported by Musical GeniusesThe natural 432 Hz vibration was used by Mozart and Italian opera composer, Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi.In fact, Verdi once wrote to the Congress of Italian Musicians to suggest 432 Hz as the concert standard. Here's what he wrote:Since France has adopted a standard pitch, I advised that the example should also be followed by us; and I formally requested that the orchestras of various cities of Italy, among them that of the Scala [Milan], to lower...