Forgotten In Time: The Ancient Solfeggio Frequencies

Forgotten In Time: The Ancient Solfeggio Frequencies

"These original sound frequencies were apparently used in Ancient Gregorian Chants, such as the great hymn to St. John the Baptist, along with others that church authorities say were lost centuries ago. The chants and their special tones were believed to impart tremendous spiritual blessings when sung in harmony during religious masses."

The Six Solfeggio Frequencies include:

UT – 396 Hz – Liberating Guilt and Fear
RE – 417 Hz – Undoing Situations and Facilitating Change
MI – 528 Hz – Transformation and Miracles (DNA Repair)
FA – 639 Hz – Connecting/Relationships
SOL – 741 Hz – Awakening Intuition
LA – 852 Hz – Returning to Spiritual Order

Whatever you believe about music, sound, frequency and it's effect on humans, Solfeggio Tones is a very important subject and one that I am just coming to, from a point of a trained musician and composer, sound producer and more. My original training dealt with different tuning methodologies including Werckmeister, Pythagorean and Quarter Comma Mean Tone not to mention the 12 note system developed by composers such as Schoenberg, Berg and Webern.


Why the Solfeggio Tones were lost to us or not taught is a mystery but I would say it is a known fact that the Catholic church as it was then, was quite instrumental in controlling what intervals a Monk or composer could use in their work. This would lead to various tuning systems being used and it was not until J.S. Bach and The Well Tempered Klavier, that a more 'standardised' system of tuning came into being.


By this time, I assume that the use of Solfeggio Tones in mainstream music, like the old 'harmonic series' did later on, became somewhat irrelevant since most composers, musicians and most importantly, instrument makers had adopted equal temperament as the standard for tuning.


But Solfeggio tones are not just about a tuning system. They are about their impact on the human body and more importantly, the human spirit. I have said it several times in other blog postings - Music is a force that cannot be underestimated and if the use and practice of Solfeggio tones can help some one in some way, then I am all for that and I encourage people to seek out music in their lives and let music enrich their spirit.


The Portal of Healing.

A Whiter Shade Of Pale - Procol Harum

A wonderful melody and harmony inspired by J.S. Bach, a great arrangement with that Hammond organ and a crazy, cryptic lyric, A Whiter Shade of Pale is one of those songs that outlives it's generation. In 2009 it was the most played song in public places in the UK, and the United Kingdom performing rights group Phonographic Performance Limited in 2004 recognized it as the most-played record by British broadcasting of the past 70 years.

I have a small personal connection to Procul Harum outside of the fact that I like this song. I was fortunate enough to study conducting with Lawrence Leonard at the Morley College in London. I discovered by chance that Lawrence was Music Director of the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra (1968-1973) and that he also conducted the Edmonton Symphony in a 1971 concert featuring Procol Harum, which was recorded and released commercially as Procol Harum Live with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra. Procol Harum Live with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, was released in 1972; it was recorded at the Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium, in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada on 18 November 1971. It is the band's best selling album, certified Gold by the RIAA.

It's a small world and I never knew that somebody who was so important to me was involved with a group that was culturally important to many people. Whenever I hear A Whiter Shade of Pale, I think of Lawrence Leonard. If he were here, I think he would approve.

The Portal of Healing.




We skipped the light fandango
Turned cartwheels cross the floor
I was feeling kinda seasick
But the crowd called out for more
The room was humming harder
As the ceiling flew away
When we called out for another drink
The waiter brought a tray

And so it was that later
As the miller told his tale
That her face, at first just ghostly,
Turned a whiter shade of pale
She said, there is no reason
And the truth is plain to see.
But I wandered through my playing cards
And would not let her be
One of sixteen vestal virgins
Who were leaving for the coast
And although my eyes were open
They might have just as well have been closed
She said, Im home on shore leave,
Though in truth we were at sea
So I took her by the looking glass
And forced her to agree
Saying, you must be the mermaid
Who took neptune for a ride.
But she smiled at me so sadly
That my anger straightway died

If music be the food of love
Then laughter is its queen
And likewise if behind is in front
Then dirt in truth is clean
My mouth by then like cardboard
Seemed to slip straight through my head
So we crash-dived straightway quickly
And attacked the ocean bed

Stop and Hear the Music - Pearls before Breakfast

From the article 'Pearls before Breakfast' by Gene Weingarten of the Washington Post, this remarkable video is in a way sad and a reminder that more needs to be done to help music especially classical music become more accessible and less elitist.

If I have any criticism of this event, stunt call it what you will it is that it tells me nothing I did knot know already i.e. most people don't care if you are playing some of the best music ever written, played by one of the best violinists out there on a instrument worth $3.5 million dollars.

Most people do not know and have never known who J.S. Bach was that's because they are never shown and will most likely not be shown either. I was lucky when I was a child to be given lessons in the violin when 8 years old, This I did until I was about 30 when I sadly had to give up. Most people will never get that chance to do something so wonderful as play a musical instrument.

So, it is not surprising that most people who are ignorant of what it is and who it is will continue to walk by in their humdrum, busy lives completely oblivious to what they are hearing - they are just not educated and caring enough to stop and listen much less care enough to part with some loose change.

If it had been Britney Spears and with all due respect to Joshua Bell, most people know who she is, there would have been a riot at the station and that says it all. We must get music back into our schools and have it on the main agenda for teaching, not an option but something that all students are exposed to from an early age.

It is no surprise that the children all wanted to stop and listen and were hurried along by their busy and embarrassed parents. The US, along with other countries needs to follow he example of El Sistema in Venezuela and start to educate young people in the beauty and discipline that music offers.

If Joshua Bell had played at a station in Venezuela, I suspect that there would have been a crowd quite quickly and although they may not have given as much money, what they would have given would have been their love, respect and admiration.

Here is a link to the complete performance Joshua Bell gave at the DC Metro Station: Joshua Bell at DC Metro Station

The Portal of Healing.