Solfeggio Frequencies

An icebreaker

In the mid-1970s a naturopath said he derived six tones from Bible verse numbers using numerology, unrelated to the medieval solfège syllables it borrowed its name from. No controlled research shows these specific frequencies heal anything, despite widespread claims.

Ask one of these · tap to take it

Does a claim feel truer once it has a number attached?
What's the difference between an old name and an old tradition?
Would you trust a health claim with no study behind it?
Why do round numbers invite stories about hidden meaning?

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Worth knowing · 1 of 5

Where did the specific frequency numbers actually come from?

In the mid-1970s a naturopath and herbalist said he was guided to apply a numerology method to verse numbers in the Bible's Book of Numbers, reducing them to six repeating digits that became the 'Solfeggio' frequencies.

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Is this the same system an 11th-century monk invented?

No. That earlier solfège assigned syllables — ut, re, mi, fa, sol, la — to notes of a hexachord using a Latin hymn, a medieval teaching tool for singers. It specified no exact frequencies at all, unlike the modern claim.

Worth knowing · 3 of 5

Who expanded the frequencies into today's popular chart?

A dentist with a public health degree, writing with the original researcher, published the numbers in a 1999 book that added three more frequencies and framed the set as healing codes, spreading them well beyond the original claim.

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Does any study support health claims about these frequencies?

No controlled research shows any of these specific frequencies heal disease, remove toxins, or repair anything in the body. A few small, non-randomized studies on general music and relaxation exist, but none support the numerological claims made for this set.

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So is there real medieval solfège behind the name?

Yes, but it's a different thing entirely: that solfège genuinely dates to the 11th century and remains the basis of music education today. The 'Solfeggio frequencies' borrowed its name in the 1970s without any documented historical connection.

Words to know

SolfègeAn 11th-century system naming scale notes with syllables — ut, re, mi, fa, sol, la — for teaching singers.

Pythagorean reductionA numerology technique reducing multi-digit numbers to a single digit by repeatedly adding their digits together.

HexachordA six-note scale segment; the basis of the original medieval solfège system.

More words

Hertz (Hz)The unit measuring sound frequency, or cycles per second; used to label each claimed 'Solfeggio' tone.

A voice · 1 of 3

Guido d'Arezzo · 11th-century monk who devised solfège

In the early 11th century he took the opening syllables of a Latin hymn's six phrases — ut, re, mi, fa, sol, la — to name notes of a hexachord, creating a teaching method still used in music education, with no fixed frequencies attached.

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Joseph Puleo · Naturopath who first derived the numbers

In the mid-1970s he applied a Pythagorean numerology method to verse numbers in the Bible's Book of Numbers, deriving six frequencies he presented as rediscovered ancient tones, later published together with a co-author in 1999.

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Leonard Horowitz · Dentist who expanded and popularized them

Co-authoring the 1999 book that introduced the numbers widely, he added three further frequencies to the original six and framed the set as healing codes embedded in scripture, a claim with no historical or clinical support.

A line to leave them with

The name is medieval. The numbers, and the healing claims, are not.