Everything in life is vibration.......Albert Einstein
Frequency is in us and all around us....every living element in our bodies radiates a measurable frequency, measured in Hertz (Hz) . Nothing stays still, around us, everything is moving according to the law of vibration. Any object that vibrates will have a sound, a wave pattern to it, and I ponder as to what it would be like to actually HEAR all of these sounds as we go about our daily business. Surely life would sound orchestral, a symphony of sounds acting as a vivid backdrop to our lives. I seem to spend a lot of my life searching for that often elusive sense of equilibrium. A still place where I feel complete and whole, joyful and expansive. A place of power not bound to ego, but about creating beauty and possibility. The frequency of joy is apparently 540 Hz. And enlightenment 963 Hz. Gods frequency is 39.17. Everything has a wave pattern to define it.
As a classical musician I am used to working with a frequency of 440 Hz in the orchestral sphere, or maybe 442 Hz on the continent. I asked myself WHY do we work to this pitch and started to investigate what is becoming a fascinating journey of discovery.
Seventeenth century Germany used 560 Hz (often described as North German church pitch), early eighteenth century France used 376 Hz. It seemed that each period of history had its own vibrational feel, expression and flow. Almost like a vibrational backdrop to the historical movements in each period of time.
In the era of Bach there was no benchmark as to how musical instruments were tuned. Pieces were performed in various pitches across Europe, church organs were at wildly different pitches even in the same city. The tuning fork was invented in 1711 but even then there was no standard sense of pitch as different vibrating forks were used in different parts of Europe. In the 19 century there began a rise in pitch which was born out of the need for string players to tune their strings higher, which to many made them sound more appealing to the ear. Orchestras were competing with each other to produce more aesthetically pleasing tones, resulting in a rise of pitch as players leant towards a sharper sound. Vocalists then started to struggle to keep up with the rising pitch, resulting many European orchestras using 435 Hz as their normal pitch, the UK adopting 439 Hz until 1939, where a decision was made to use 440 Hz as standard. Interesting to note that the BBC stipulated their orchestras to play at 440 Hz which was apparently due to the fact that 439 frequency was incompatible with electronic clocks!
432 Hz is often said to be the resonance of the universe and all living things, although I am conscious that this is an intently metaphysical and esoteric subject. I have recently learnt about the Schumann resonance, global electromagnetic resonances that form the earths frequency. I find it fascinating that we are so connected to frequencies that are a part of our very existence as humans. And also fascinated by my role in these frequencies as a classical musician, how I can influence the world around me by creating musical vibration that supports the natural frequencies we all so need to inhabit. Lots to ponder...........