# Why should I Listen to 432hz Music? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 3, 2014, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-i-listen-to-432hz-music/677787 "2014-01-03T12:29:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2015, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-i-listen-to-432hz-music/677787/21 "2015-02-10T23:00:01Z")
Apparently God isn’t that accurate. Otherwise that chart wouldn’t have “actually” and a correction after half the BS in it. ---
**Author:** ![SirRay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@SirRay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SirRay)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2015, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-i-listen-to-432hz-music/677787/22 "2015-02-10T23:01:50Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Thus proving the superiority of the imperial system of measurements–apparently, it’s what God uses. Not sure how this fits in with 432Hz “(Speed of Light is exactly 299792458 metres per second) Great Pyramid of Giza, Coordinates is exactly 29.9792° N, 31.1344° E” although it was a great stroke of luck that Ancient Egypt had adopted the metre thousands of years before Revolutionary France. I searched around, and still have not fully determined if Prince did or did not record a song (“The Gold Standard”) with A tuned to 432Hz on his 2014 album (I did confirm, however, that Prince has released 34 albums over the years, not including compilations). ---
**Author:** ![RedSwinglineOne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a9adbd/32.png) [@RedSwinglineOne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedSwinglineOne)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2015, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-i-listen-to-432hz-music/677787/23 "2015-02-10T23:23:24Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Apparently God isn’t that accurate. Otherwise that chart wouldn’t have “actually” and a correction after half the BS in it. What do you expect? He only had 6 days for this job. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2015, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-i-listen-to-432hz-music/677787/24 "2015-02-10T23:27:06Z")
> [@RedSwinglineOne](#): > > What do you expect? He only had 6 days for this job. Which is 432 1,200 second periods. Coincidence? I think not! ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2015, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-i-listen-to-432hz-music/677787/25 "2015-02-10T23:28:32Z")
> [@SirRay](#): > > Not sure how this fits in with 432Hz I’m not sure if that is in reply to my quote or to what follows, but **432Hz** ’s coincidences half rely on miles being used as the basis of measurement, ergo, apparently God works in Imperial/US Customary units. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2015, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-i-listen-to-432hz-music/677787/26 "2015-02-11T01:03:38Z")
guessing “ **432Hz** ” is a sock puppet of [spyderkill.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=748822) ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2015, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-i-listen-to-432hz-music/677787/27 "2015-02-11T01:57:02Z")
> [@jz78817](#): > > guessing “ **432Hz** ” is a sock puppet of [spyderkill.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=748822) Sure looks like it. Reported. ---
**Author:** ![432Hz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/4/bc79bd/32.png) [@432Hz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/432Hz)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2015, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-i-listen-to-432hz-music/677787/28 "2015-02-11T07:01:29Z")
Can any other number do this… but 432? 1. 2. - 1. 3. - 1. - 1. 4. - 1. - 1. - 1. * * * 1. - 1. - 1. - 1. = 4320 ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2015, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-i-listen-to-432hz-music/677787/29 "2015-02-11T07:52:24Z")
> [@432Hz](#): > > Can any other number do this… but 432? > > 1. > 2. > - > 1. > > 3. > - > 1. > - > 1. > > 4. > - > 1. > - > 1. > - > 1. > > * * * > > 1. > - > 1. > - > 1. > - > 1. = 4320 Sum up to ten times themselves if you take ten of them and add them together? Yes. All numbers can do this. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2015, 7:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-i-listen-to-432hz-music/677787/30 "2015-02-11T07:56:03Z")
> [@naita](#): > > Sum up to ten times themselves if you take ten of them and add them together? Yes. All numbers can do this. I was going to say the same thing, but, he’s right. Only 432 x 10 = 4320. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![get\_lives](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecb155/32.png) [@get\_lives](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/get_lives)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2015, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-i-listen-to-432hz-music/677787/31 "2015-02-11T13:11:16Z")
I think we’re being whooshed. Or, I hope we are. ---
**Author:** ![432Hz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/4/bc79bd/32.png) [@432Hz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/432Hz)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2015, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-i-listen-to-432hz-music/677787/32 "2015-02-11T13:48:12Z")
"In 1989 over a dozen of opera’s greatest superstars—including Placido Domingo, Luciano Pavarotti, and Birgit Nillson—added their names to a petition before the Italian government, asking them to lower the standard pitch at which all orchestras are tuned. At the time, international standard pitch was set at 440 Hz, which is to say that the A above middle C should be tuned to resonate at 440 cycles per second. The petition asked to lower this to 432 Hz, claiming that “the continual raising of pitch for orchestras provokes serious damage to singers, who are forced to adapt to different tunings from one concert hall or opera to the next,” and that “the high standard pitch is one of the main reasons for the crisis in singing, that has given rise to ‘hybrid’ voices unable to perform the repertoire assigned to them.” The petition ended with a demand that “The Ministeries of Education, Arts and Culture, and Entertainment accept and adopt the normal standard pitch of A = 432 for all music institutions and opera houses, such that it becomes the official Italian standard pitch, and, very soon, the official standard pitch universally.” [http://longform.org/stories/pitch-battles](http://longform.org/stories/pitch-battles) SCHILLER INSTITUTE 432Hz Petition - In 2001, the entire world will celebrate the 100th anniversary of the death of Giuseppe Verdi on Jan. 30,1901, including by attempting to revive his original operas. Giuseppe Verdi himself, in 1884, wrote a letter to the Music Commission of the Italian Government, proposing that the classical tuning of A=432HZ (equal C=256, scientific pitch) be adopted, in order to respect singing voices and promote classical interpretation. He also asked the “whole music world” to also adopt this tuning too, since "music is a universal language, and why should an A in Paris be a B flat in Rome? [http://www.schillerinstitute.org/music/rev\_verdituning.html](http://www.schillerinstitute.org/music/rev_verdituning.html) ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2015, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-i-listen-to-432hz-music/677787/33 "2015-02-11T14:03:23Z")
Well, it’s been well established above, but let’s play anyway: 1. 2. - 1. 3. - 1. - 1. 4. - 1. - 1. - 1. * * * 1. - 1. - 1. - 1. = 4400 But, wait, there’s more! Let’s sum up the digits of the answers to each column (i.e. 1760=1+7+6+0) 14 + 6 + 16 + 8 = 44.0 :eek: Can 432 do that? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![August\_West](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/august_west/32/18069_2.png) [@August\_West](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/August_West)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2015, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-i-listen-to-432hz-music/677787/34 "2015-02-11T14:28:19Z")
I thought 42 was the answer to life, the universe, and everything. Glad to have my ignorance fought. ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2015, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-i-listen-to-432hz-music/677787/35 "2015-02-11T15:37:43Z")
> [@432Hz](#): > > …"The petition ended with a demand that “The Ministeries of Education, Arts and Culture, and Entertainment accept and adopt the normal standard pitch of A = 432 for all music institutions and opera houses, such that it > becomes the official Italian standard pitch, and, very soon, the official standard pitch universally…” Yes, you can cherry pick some examples of musicians petitioning for A4 = 432. You can also find examples of them petitioning for A4 = lots of other frequencies. So what? Incidentally, the complaint singers have about A4 = 440 is not something inherently bad about 440. It’s that older music was often (although, _not always_) tuned to a much lower A. As low as 390, even. 415 was common in the Baroque period. In other words, a Baroque A at Baroque tuning is closer to a modern G or A-flat. That means that singing older music at modern tuning can (although, _not always_) lead to singing it a half-step or possibly a whole-step higher than it would have sounded in earlier times. This is one of the issues that led to the historical performance movement—using old instruments or replicas of instruments from the period (as opposed to modern instruments), restoring performance interpretation practices as far as they can be identified, and, yes, restoring older tuning systems and reference pitches. It has _nothing to do_ with 432 be inherently worse or better than 440. It is simply an issue of older choices vs. newer. Note that most singers have managed for over a century to sing a lot of older music at 440 or even higher, with no dire consequences. Having said that, I have often enjoyed historical performance practice and advocate for using older tuning systems when practical. Again this has nothing to do with whether 432 is special and 440 a Nazi invention. Neither is true. ETA: Incidentally, there are no tuning police in Italy, or anywhere else. The standard tuning pitch is a recommended standard, not a law. It’s still up to local ensembles to determine their tuning. Any singer who wishes to sing at lower tuning can find historical period performance ensembles all over the world that use that tuning. ---
**Author:** ![432Hz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/4/bc79bd/32.png) [@432Hz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/432Hz)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2015, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-i-listen-to-432hz-music/677787/36 "2015-02-11T16:30:02Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Well, it’s been well established above, but let’s play anyway: > > 1. > 2. > - > 1. > > 3. > - > 1. > - > 1. > > 4. > - > 1. > - > 1. > - > 1. > > * * * > > 1. > - > 1. > - > 1. > - > 1. = 4400 > But, wait, there’s more! Let’s sum up the digits of the answers to each column (i.e. 1760=1+7+6+0) > 14 + 6 + 16 + 8 = 44.0 :eek: > > Can 432 do that? 😉 Hehe… Just testing the waters, I didnt know what type of puppeteers i was playing with… But well done, 440 clearly is the winner if we stopped there… Are you ready to dance, then hit it! 5 + 6 + 7 + 8 = 26 which is only 8… Thats a good number, but we are discussing music and I believe 432 is To the Nines… "The math that is evident when tuned to A-432 show what is called “The Plato Code”. Just like there are hidden codes written into the bible there are also hidden codes in the 432 matrix. 432 is THE ONLY resonant frequency that is capable of naturally reproducing what is called the “Pythagorean Musical Spiral”. Its the same sequence of growth that all life follows. It utilizes the formula of “Phi” also know as the “Golden Mean” and is also found in the “Fibonacci sequence”. [http://gaearth.com/sound-as-medicine/a-432/](http://gaearth.com/sound-as-medicine/a-432/) How do you all feel about this number 666? Let me tell first of all I believe 432 is Heavenly and it would be difficult to make me think otherwise. Like it would be saying Phi, Fibonacci or DNA were evil in anyway… I did find thid this interesting Periodic Table of the Elements, the atomic number for the Carbon element is six. Carbon is necessary to form all DNA and RNA, the chemical code of life as it currently exists. And the Carbon atom has six electrons, six neutrons and six protons. The first 144 digits of Pi, adding up to 666 432 backwards is the number 2-3-4! (234 + 432 =666), (243 + 423 =666), (324 + 342 =666) 234 and 432 - the Basic Numbers of the Zodiac, Radius of the Sun, Precession of the Equinoxes, the Yugas, the Sphinx, etc [234 and 432 - the Basic Numbers of the Zodiac, Radius of the Sun, Precession of the Equinoxes, the Yugas, the Sphinx, etc.](http://circumsolatious.blogspot.com/2011/03/234-and-432-basic-numbers-of-zodiac.html?m=1) ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2015, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-i-listen-to-432hz-music/677787/37 "2015-02-11T16:43:39Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > those sites aren’t making any sound argument for it. You’ll rot in hell for that. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2015, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-i-listen-to-432hz-music/677787/38 "2015-02-11T16:49:15Z")
> [@432Hz](#): > > To disrupt the Harmony of Mankind, which has been using A=432HZ for thousands of years… Not that I’m expecting much, but a citation from something other than a woo source would be appreciated on this. The way A4 has been tuned has varied _wildly_ in the last few hundred years, from [A376.3 Hz to as high as 570 Hz.](http://www.phy.mtu.edu/~suits/notefreqs.html) There’s no such historical standard. It’s only fairly recently in human history that we’ve become to agree on some conventions, and even those conventions aren’t followed by many orchestras, who tune a smidge north of A440. And what is so special about A440 instead of, say, C440? It’s not like A is the fundamental note of most instruments. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2015, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-i-listen-to-432hz-music/677787/39 "2015-02-11T17:01:57Z")
Musical kook science. Where was **432Hz** when Usenet was in flower? Now about A-440. It’s been around longer than anyone thinks. We know this because of a hidden primary source that armchair musicologists, as a rule, couldn’t give less of a shit about: _vintage band instruments._ Especially the woodwinds, which have to be built to a relatively static pitch because they use tone holes instead of valves, slides, strings 'n’at. You tune by pushing a mouthpiece or head joint in or out, but there’s only a few Hz either way you can do it before the woodwind goes out of tune with itself. There are very old clarinets, flutes and saxophones tuned to A-456 (once known as International Pitch), and others, some 100+ years old, that tune to A-440 (once known as Low Pitch, which was marked on some instruments well into the 1940s). Somewhere there’s a very boring DMA dissertation on how we got A-440 and when, but suffice to say, it’s been a standard, formal or informal, for most of a century, at least in the musical backwater known as the USA. ---
**Author:** ![squidfood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a87d85/32.png) [@squidfood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squidfood)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2015, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-i-listen-to-432hz-music/677787/40 "2015-02-11T17:09:35Z")
> [@August\_West](#): > > I thought 42 was the answer to life, the universe, and everything. Glad to have my ignorance fought. Oh, the ‘3’ is just 42’s middle name. Used for emphasis. E.g. if 42 = Jesus Christ, then 432 = Jesus H. Christ. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-i-listen-to-432hz-music/677787.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-i-listen-to-432hz-music/677787.md?page=3)