What are tuning forks anyways?
The origin Story of the Tuning Fork
The tuning fork was invented in 1711 by the English musician John Shore as a simple and reliable way to produce a stable musical pitch to tune musical instruments. Over the following centuries, this modest instrument travelled far beyond the world of music. Scientists used tuning forks to explore the nature of sound and human hearing, while physicians adopted them as tools for assessing hearing and the body's perception of vibration.
The use of tuning forks for wellbeing and therapeutic purposes developed much later and it emerged gradually from the meeting of acoustics, medical uses of vibration, music therapy and complementary healing traditions. Tuning forks are loved by many sound healing facilitators because of their precise vibrations, and the precision of their frequencies helps convey very specific intentions. They are also quite unique in that they can bring the vibration of different frequencies to specific areas of the energy bodies as well as directly to the physical body, such as its tissues and bones. In this way, tuning forks allow us not only to hear sound through the air, but also to experience it directly as physical vibration. They can affect the nervous system directly through their capacity to come into close contact with the body. While some tuning forks are designed to be placed directly on the body, others can be used to send their vibrations to someone from a distance.
While research into their therapeutic applications is still developing, their long journey from a medical tool to an instrument of therapeutic practice reflects a centuries-old exploration of how vibrations can interact with and support the human body.
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10829824/
“History and Evolution of the Tuning Fork” (2024), a peer-reviewed historical review available through the U.S. National Library of Medicine.
Historical Notes: a Brief Chronicle of the Tuning Fork | Whipple Museum of the History of Science
The Whipple Museum of the History of Science at the University of Cambridge has an excellent shorter history. It explains the role of John Shore, Chladni, Scheibler, Helmholtz, and others in transforming the tuning fork from a musical pitch reference into a precision scientific instrument.
Tuning forks are a relatively new modality in sound healing. If you are anything like me and prefer to be informed before trying something new, I invite you to explore their history, development, and the research surrounding their therapeutic use.
Solfeggio and Fibonacci Frequencies
Solfeggio Frequencies
Dr. Joseph Puleo described rediscovering the “original Solfeggio frequencies” in the 1970s following a mystical experience. These frequencies were used in some ancient gregorian chants, and have been associated with transformation and the experience of higher states of consciousness.
Today, tuning forks are made using these frequencies and are used in sound healing practices. Their sounds support the free flow of life force, or chi, through the energy system and to encourage deeper states of awareness. Each frequency is associated with particular qualities. For example, one is associated with releasing guilt and fear, while another is associated with transformation and change.
Solfeggio sessions can support emotional processing, energise the subtle energy system, and encourage the body’s natural healing abilities. People often find that emotions that were difficult to bear feel lighter, bringing a greater sense of peace and harmony and greater clarity about their next steps. There are various ways of working with Solfeggio tuning forks, depending on the needs and intentions of the session. These sessions tend to be gentler, with effects that are often experienced as grounding and centering.
Fibonacci Frequencies
The Fibonacci sequence is named after Leonardo Fibonacci, an Italian mathematician who lived during the 12th and 13th centuries. As a young man, he studied mathematics in Bugia, in present-day Algeria, where he encountered the Hindu-Arabic numeral system. He later helped introduce and popularise the Hindu-Arabic numeral system in Europe through his influential book Liber Abaci. The Fibonacci tuning fork set takes its name from Leonardo Fibonacci because its frequency intervals are based on numbers and proportions derived from the Fibonacci sequence. As the sequence progresses, the ratio between consecutive numbers approaches the golden ratio, a mathematical proportion found in many patterns of growth and form in nature.
In sound healing practice, Fibonacci frequencies are used to help us tune in to the patterns of growth, harmony, and beauty inherent to nature and to us. These frequencies can offer a way of connecting more directly with the stillness and power within us.
Fibonacci sessions are intended to support deeper levels of inner exploration and transformation. They help bring awareness to emotional patterns, unresolved past experiences and traumas, and they do so more quickly and fundamentally than the Solfeggio forks. People may experience profound insights and discover new ways of perceiving themselves and responding to their circumstances. They tend to connect people to their intuition and inner power much more directly, so these sessions feel like a more intense journey towards ourselves and open gateways to direct and clear responses from our intuition. These frequencies can also stimulate deep healing responses in our bodies.
***Sometimes, receiving a Solfeggio session a few days after a Fibonacci session can help ground and integrate the experience. During our session, we decide together whether a Fibonacci or Solfeggio session is the right choice for you that day.***
Who are the pioneers of using tuning forks for sound healing?
John Beaulieu is one of the early influential figures in modern therapeutic tuning-fork practice. Beaulieu is a musician, composer, psychologist, and naturopathic doctor who began experimenting with tuning forks in the 1970s and 1980s. His system, later known as Biosonics, emphasizes musical intervals, especially pairs of tuning forks, rather than assigning a mystical property to one isolated frequency. He proposed that listening to and experiencing these intervals could support relaxation and nervous-system regulation. His 1987 book Music and Sound in the Healing Arts and later Human Tuning became influential texts among tuning-fork practitioners. A 2003 paper coauthored by Beaulieu discussed a proposed nitric-oxide-related mechanism for relaxation induced by sound therapy
Fabien Maman is another frequently cited pioneer. A French musician and acupuncturist, he developed an approach often called Sound Acupuncture or Sonopuncture beginning around the late 1970s and early 1980s. He combined music, voice, tuning forks, and acupuncture theory, applying sound to acupuncture points and the body's energetic field. He later founded the Tama-Do Academy. Maman is especially associated with the idea that particular sounds and musical intervals may affect cells and subtle-energy systems.
Hans Cousto occupies a different branch of the story. He was not primarily a tuning-fork therapist. In the late 1970s, he developed the Cosmic Octave system, mathematically converting astronomical cycles, such as Earth's orbit around the Sun, into audible frequencies by repeatedly doubling them through octaves. This produced frequencies including the approximately 136.1 Hz “Earth Year” tone, which later became widely known as the OM or OHM frequency. Cousto's work strongly influenced later planetary tuning-fork systems.
Donna Carey and Marjorie de Muynck developed Acutonics in the United States during the 1990s. Their system combined tuning forks with Traditional Chinese Medicine, acupuncture points, meridians, and Cousto-inspired planetary frequencies. Weighted tuning forks are placed directly on acupuncture points and other areas of the body, while unweighted forks are used around the body. Acutonics became one of the most structured and influential contemporary tuning-fork healing systems.
Some Developers of Contemporary Tuning Fork Systems
David Hulse is an influential contemporary figure in the development of therapeutic practices using Solfeggio tuning forks. In the early 2000s, he founded SomaEnergetics, an approach centered on working with the modern Solfeggio frequency set through tuning forks. Hulse developed structured methods such as the Energy Vitality Technique, in which Solfeggio-tuned forks are used around the body within an energetic wellbeing framework. Through his teaching, practitioner training, and writing, including his book A Fork in the Road, Hulse helped popularize the use of Solfeggio frequencies as a distinct branch of contemporary tuning-fork practice.
Eileen Day McKusick developed Biofield Tuning, beginning from experiments she describes conducting from the 1990s onward. Her method uses tuning forks in the space around the body and proposes that patterns in the body's “biofield” correspond to emotional experiences and life history. Her 2014 book Tuning the Human Biofield popularized the approach. Biofield Tuning is especially interesting historically because it differs from Beaulieu, Maman, and Acutonics: the forks are used to detect perceived changes in sound and resistance within the field surrounding the body rather than primarily to stimulate acupuncture points or create musical intervals.
Research papers
on tuning forks, vibrational therapy and effects of certain Frequencies on wellbeing
Science has yet to catch up on researching healing frequencies and the effects of tuning forks. If you like to explore the research done on tuning forks and some of the frequencies I use, you can check the following links:
Research directly involving tuning-fork-based sound healing
Jain et al. (2023), “Sound healing reduces generalized anxiety during the pandemic.”
Fifteen participants with moderate-to-high generalized anxiety received a virtually delivered sound-healing intervention based on Biofield Tuning, which uses tuning forks.
The study reported significant reductions in anxiety and improvements in several secondary wellbeing measures.
A review titled "A Review on the Effects of Chanting and Solfeggio Frequencies on Well-Being."
This paper presents our literature review on how chanting and solfeggio frequencies affect brain activity, enhance well-being, and inform the design of sound therapy.
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12700779/
A 2025 study of 528 Hz OM chanting in people with hypertension. Participants listened to OM chanting at 528 Hz for a month (528 is one of the solfeggio frequencies) . The researchers reported reductions in pulse and blood pressure, greater parasympathetic activity on heart-rate-variability measures, reduced perceived stress, improved sleep, and improved psychological wellbeing.
Dayyari et al. (2019), "Influence of various intensities of 528 Hz sound-wave in rats." This animal study exposed rats to 528 Hz sound at different intensities. The researchers reported reduced reactive oxidative species in brain tissue, changes in testosterone levels, and reduced anxiety-related behavior under some exposure conditions.
Akimoto et al. (2018), "Effect of 528 Hz Music on the Endocrine System and Autonomic Nervous System." Nine healthy adults listened to music tuned so that 528 Hz was part of the musical scale, compared with 440 Hz-tuned music. After five minutes of 528 Hz music, the researchers reported decreased salivary cortisol, increased oxytocin, reduced tension-anxiety, and changes in autonomic measures.
Using Deep Learning to Recognize Therapeutic Effects of Music Based on Emotions
The study recorded EEG signals while participants listened to different types of music, including music created using Solfeggio frequencies and binaural beats.
Research on sound vibration and vibroacoustic therapy
Bartel and Mosabbir's 2021 review, “Possible Mechanisms for the Effects of Sound Vibration on Human Health,” examines research on vibroacoustic stimulation and discusses several possible mechanisms.
These include mechanical stimulation of tissues and mechanoreceptors, effects on circulation, pain pathways, muscle relaxation, autonomic regulation, and neural oscillatory activity.
The review is valuable because it provides biologically plausible pathways through which vibration may influence physiology
8. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9980599/
The analgesic effect of localized vibration: a systematic review
This paper shows that 128 Hz tuning forks are widely used medically to assess vibration sensation and peripheral nerve function, demonstrating clearly that the human somatosensory system detects and responds to this type of vibration. (128 Hz tuning forks are often used for physical pain)
Hohneck et al. (2025)
Differential effects of sound interventions tuned to 432 Hz versus 443 Hz.
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