Healing Frequencies of the Ancient Solfeggio Scale
Early in the 11th century, an Italian Benedictine monk, Guido of Arezzo, was looking for ways to teach melodies and harmonies to monastic choirs. One of his methods was a mnemonic tool, called the “Guidonian Hand.” Notes were associated with places on the fingers and palm. Once mastered, a choirmaster could point to his hand to inform singers of the next note. This was a new way to teach music — but Brother Guido continued to innovate.
Finding a way to express a musical scale, he created staff notations to teach chants and hymns. Guido’s original notations were “UT RE MI FA SOL LA,” derived from the first syllable of each half-line of the ancient “Hymn to Saint John the Baptist,” descended from an even more ancient work by Horace, an 8th century BC Roman poet.
This scale of six notes (C, D, E, F, G, A), the ancestor of our “so re mi fa so la ti do,“ evolved into the modern diatonic scale after “UT” became “DO” in the 19th century, and “TI” (B) was added later. “Solfeggio” is based on the word “solfège,” the name for this notation method of teaching pitch and sight singing.
Solfeggio Healing Frequencies
Gregorian chants have a measurable influence on human psychology and physiology. Those who perform the chants experience the lowest heart rates and blood pressure of the day while singing, according to Dr. Alan Watkins, a neuroscience lecturer at Imperial College, London. Other research suggests that singing the ancient compositions relieves fatigue and alleviates depression. Scientists have also observed that monastic singers require much less sleep; as little as two hours a day.
Solfeggio Geometry and Cymatics
Cymatics is the science of observing the effects of sound and frequency on matter usually in the form of liquid or powder. The term was coined by Swiss scientist Hans Jenny, who used specialized equipment that allowed a viewer to observe shapes formed in a medium under the influence of sound wave frequencies.
A cymascope study for SomaEnergetics, a company specializing in education and equipment for sound therapy, recorded cymatic images of each of the Solfeggio frequencies. Each frequency image contained “nodes” and “antinodes,” or the tops and bottoms of visible standing sound waves.
Counting the antinodes, the researchers discovered discovered that most of the Solfeggio frequencies, precisely produced by tuning forks, are “divisible by 3, 6, and/or 9. Any whole number divisor of 72 carries a mathematical relationship between phi and certain frequencies; 12, 9, 8, 6, 3, and 2 all work.” 12, 9, 6 and 3 all have special significance in many number-based esoteric systems. And coincidentally, the hz frequency numbers (396, 417, 528, 639, 741, 852) can all be reduced to one of these numbers (369 = 18 = 9, 417 = 12 = 3, 528 = 15 = 6, 639 = 18 = 9, 741 = 12 = 3, 852 = 15 = 6).
Nikola Tesla said, “If you only knew the magnificence of the 3, 6 and 9, then you would have the key to the universe.” The researchers added that distortions in the images were the product of ambient background noise, but the structure and geometry of each frequency is apparent in the images.
Image courtesy of somaenergetics.com.
Benefits of the Solfeggio Frequencies
Dr. Joseph Puleo, a physician and herbalist, began exploring the Solfeggio in the 1990s. He developed a theory that each of the six frequencies carried precise characteristics, and that the tones could be used therapeutically.
In 1988, Biochemist Glen Rein, Phd, converted and recorded Solfeggio scale Gregorian chants to scalar audio waves. The results were played to test tubes containing DNA. By measuring UV light absorption, Rein could document the effect of the music on DNA. He also compared the chants with other forms of music, including rock. While rock music had little or no influence, the chants caused a marked increase of light absorption, up to nine percent, leading Rein to conclude that Solfeggio scale sound frequencies cause resonance in DNA, and may have healing properties.
Since then, others have explored the healing potential of the Solfeggio frequencies. According to an article in Anti-Aging Medical News (Winter 2006), pulsed frequencies had a positive impact on osteoporosis. In another study, snails exposed to a range of frequencies, including some in the Solfeggio range, became more focused and active compared to a control group. “It was evident that exposure enhanced the creative capacity of the brain in snails,” the author wrote.
A Japanese study published in 2018 examined the stress reducing effect of 528 hz (MI or E) on the endocrine system. The researchers concluded that 528 hz music has “an especially strong stress-reducing effect, even after only five minutes of exposure.”
Using the Frequencies
Youtube has countless Solfeggio meditations that integrate the frequencies with music — over a million pages were returned in a Google search on “Solfeggio meditation.” Some websites offer expensive, specialized equipment — others offer precisely calibrated tuning fork sets. Some health practitioners strike the forks, then place them on specific acupuncture points and meridians while others create “sound baths” with gongs and singing bowls tuned to specific frequencies.
Someone wishing to experience the Solfeggio frequencies can spend a little or a lot, but a Youtube search and a good pair of headphones may be the best entry point for exploring the Solfeggio frequencies.
Solfeggio Frequency Characteristics
396 Hz — Releases Fear
417 Hz — Eases and Initiates Change
528 Hz — Healing and DNA Repair
639 Hz — Heals Relationships
741 Hz — Finding Creative Expression and Solutions
852 Hz — Spiritual Homecoming
About the Author
Healing with Sound, Frequency, and Vibration
Many associate illness and disease with prescriptions and interventions such as surgery. Allopathic medicine and science have traveled a narrow path built on chemical substances and sharp instruments rather than energy.
But the ancients recognized sound, vibration, and frequency as powerful forces that influence life all the way down to the cellular level. The gifted Greek philosopher Pythagoras prescribed music as medicine, asserting that the musical intervals he discovered are clear expressions of sacred geometry. He stated that music is the phenomena of numbers in time, reflecting the structures of nature, and has the power to restore balance in an organism.
Sound Healing Research
According to a study published by the National Institute of Health, “Music effectively reduces anxiety for medical and surgical patients and often reduces surgical and chronic pain. [Also,] Providing music to caregivers may be a strategy to improve empathy, compassion, and care.” In other words, music is not only good for patients; it’s good for those who care for them.
A 2010 Finnish study observed that stroke patients who were given access to music as cognitive therapy had improved recovery. Other research has shown that patients suffering from the loss of speech due to brain injury or stroke regain it more quickly by learning to sing before trying to speak. The phenomenon of music facilitating healing in the brain after a stroke is called the “Kenny Rogers Effect.”
For those struggling with addiction and substance dependencies, learning to play an instrument may play an important role in recovery. A study at the University of Wisconsin showed that exposure to the right music, tones, and frequencies produces dopamine, which is in short supply for the nervous system during the withdrawal process.
“If you want to find the secrets of the universe, think in terms of energy, frequency, and vibration.” —Nikola Tesla
Singing bowl bathing is gaining popularity as a method to reduce stress and anxiety and to promote well-being. Laying down with eyes closed, participants listen while different bowls are struck and toned by a practitioner.
Studies show that this practice, called “sound bathing,” directly reduces anxiety and depression; both are related to increases in disease. According to one study, “Sixty-two women and men with an average age of 50 reported significantly less tension, anger, fatigue, and depressed mood after sound sessions. Tibetan singing bowl meditation may be a feasible low-cost low technology intervention for reducing feelings of tension, anxiety, and depression, and increasing spiritual well-being.”
A study published in the Southern Medical Journal (2005) demonstrated the beneficial effects of music in hospital settings. Researchers reported that “For children and adults, music effectively reduces anxiety and improves mood for medical and surgical patients, and for patients in intensive care units.” Researchers also noted that ambient music increased empathy in caregivers without interfering with the technical aspects of treatment.
Can Sound Fight Cancer?
In 1981, biologist Helene Grimal partnered with composer Fabien Maman to study the relationship of sound waves to living cells. Maman was also an acupuncturist and had previously discovered that by using tuning forks and colored light on acupuncture points he could achieve equal and even greater results than he could with needles.
For 18 months, Grimal and Maman worked with the effects of 30-40 decibel sounds on human cells. With a camera mounted on a microscope, the researchers observed uterine cancer cells exposed to different acoustic instruments (guitar, gong, xylophone) as well as the human voice for 20-minute sessions.
Using the nine-note Ionian Scale (C-D-E-F-G-A-B-C-D), Grimal and Maman observed that when exposed to sound, cancer cells lost structural integrity until they exploded at the 14-minute mark. Far more dramatic was the sound of a human voice — the cells were destroyed at the nine-minute mark.
Next, Maman and Grimal worked with two women with breast cancer. For one month, the women devoted three-and-a-half hours a day to “toning,” or singing the scale. One woman’s tumor became undetectable, meaning it simply disappeared. The other woman underwent surgery. Her surgeon reported that her tumor had shrunk dramatically and “dried up.” It was removed and the woman had a complete recovery and remission.
Maman said, “Cancer cells cannot maintain their structure when specific sound wave frequencies attack the cytoplasmic and nuclear membranes. When the vibratory rate increases, the cells cannot adapt or stabilize themselves and die by disintegrating and exploding.”
