Notes from the House
The Solfeggio Frequencies, Plainly: What Each One Is, and Where We Use It
The Solfeggio frequencies are nine specific pitches used in calm and sleep music, the best known being 528 Hz. Each has traditional associations attached to it, most of which are not settled science.
What follows is what each one is, what it's usually said to be for, and which of our tracks actually contain it.
Before the table, one honest note
You'll find pages stating flatly what each frequency does to you. We won't, because nobody can demonstrate it yet.
What's true is narrower and still worth something. These are real pitches. A sustained low tone does change how a room feels to sit in. And people report, in large numbers and over a long time, that particular ones suit particular moods.
We choose deliberately among them, and we build the tone into the audio rather than into the title. That last part is rarer than it should be.
The nine, and where we use them
| Hz | Traditionally associated with | Hear it in |
|---|---|---|
| 174 | Grounding, a sense of safety | The low floor under the long sleep tracks. Music for Sleep, Restless Nights, Feeling Safe, Falling Asleep |
| 285 | Restoration, repair | The one we use most sparingly. Music for Self-Trust |
| 396 | Release, letting go | Our most-used tone after 528. Tender Hearts, Hard Mornings, Hard Days, Falling Asleep, Stillness |
| 417 | Change, clearing | Music for Emotional Healing |
| 528 | The best known of the nine | Under all of them. Music for a Calm Mind is the cleanest single-528 example |
| 639 | Connection, warmth | Music for Comfort |
| 741 | Waking, clearing the head | Music for Focus |
| 852 | Clarity, seeing plainly | Music for Overthinking |
| 963 | Openness, the "highest" of the set | Used rarely. Not in a currently published track |
Not all nine are in a published track yet. We'd rather say so than pad the table.
And some of what we use isn't Solfeggio at all. 432 Hz gets grouped in constantly and it doesn't belong: it's an alternative concert tuning, a different idea from a different argument. We also lay low root tones under some tracks that aren't from the set either, chosen because they sit well beneath a drone rather than because they carry any tradition. We use it in some of our tracks because it sits well under a drone. It just isn't one of the nine, and pages that list it as one are copying each other rather than checking.
How we actually use them
Rarely alone.
Most of our tracks layer two or three. A low floor, usually 174 or 396. Then 528 through the middle of it. Then sometimes a third, chosen for the mood the track is for.
The clearest small example
Music for Stillness
1 Hour · 396 Hz + 528 Hz
Release underneath, 528 through it, nothing else. An hour of very little.
If you want to hear the range
Three different upper tones
- Music for Overthinking 2 hours · 528 Hz + 852 Hz
- Music for Comfort 2 hours · 528 Hz + 639 Hz
- Music for Emotional Healing 2 hours · 528 Hz + 417 Hz
Three different upper tones over similar foundations. Free, nothing to sign up for.
Which one should you pick
If you're choosing by number, you're choosing the hard way.
Pick by what the track is for, which is why ours are named for moments rather than frequencies. The tuning is real and deliberate and it isn't the part you should be shopping by.
If you like knowing what's underneath, that's what this page is for. If you'd rather just put something on, the names will get you there faster than the numbers will.
Nine numbers is a lot to hold, and you don't need to hold any of them.
Something long, no words, nothing that builds, left running. That's still the whole method. The frequencies are how we build it, not a test you have to pass.
SOVA Within · sound for coming back to yourself
More from the House
- 528 Hz: What It Actually Is, and What We Can and Can't Tell You The honest answer on the best known of the nine
- Ambient Drone Music: Why It Works When Songs Don't What a drone actually is, and what makes ours humming drones