Originally published in 2015; updated in 2026.
A note from Del: This article began during my early exploration of musical frequencies. I was listening to everything—singers, household appliances, power tools—and wondering how the sounds connected. Some observations led to more questions than answers! This revision preserves that exploration while clarifying what musical entrainment means and what my informal comparisons can tell us.What is Musical Entrainment?
Have you ever noticed yourself tapping a foot along with music? You hear a beat, and your movement begins to coordinate with it. That’s a familiar starting point for understanding musical entrainment.
Music researcher Martin Clayton describes entrainment as an interaction between independently rhythmic systems. A connection between them allows one to influence the timing of another. They may settle into a consistent timing relationship, although that doesn’t require everything to move identically.
A classic example comes from Christiaan Huygens, who observed pendulum clocks synchronizing through a shared support. That connecting structure matters. Simply finding two things with similar rhythms does not demonstrate that they influenced each other. Read Clayton’s explanation of entrainment.
How Does This Work in Music?
Musicians spend a lot of time learning to coordinate with one another. We listen, watch, anticipate, and adjust. When a group settles into a shared musical pulse, there’s a sense of playing together that goes beyond everyone reading the correct notes.
Researchers study this coordination in activities such as ensemble playing and dancing. Sometimes people move on the same beat; sometimes they maintain different but related rhythmic patterns. This research paper explores those musical interactions.
As a performer, I find this fascinating. We practice our individual parts, but putting them together requires another kind of attention.
There’s an important distinction here, though. A listener feeling calmer, or a heartbeat changing during music, does not automatically demonstrate entrainment. To establish entrainment, we would need to examine the timing relationship—not simply notice that something changed.
Rhythm and concert pitch
My original exploration quickly moved from rhythmic coordination into questions about A=432 concert pitch. Looking back, those need to be separated more carefully.
Concert pitch sets a tuning reference. With A=432, the A above middle C is set to 432 cycles per second. Musical tempo describes the pace of the beat, usually in beats per minute.
A piece can have a slow tempo at A=440 or a fast tempo at A=432. Changing the tuning reference doesn’t automatically determine how someone moves with the beat.
For more background on tuning references, see Understanding Concert Pitch.
What About the Schumann Resonances?
During my early research, I encountered descriptions of Schumann resonances and wondered whether they might connect with musical tuning.
These are electromagnetic resonances in the region between Earth’s surface and the ionosphere, excited mainly by lightning. NASA provides an explanation and animation here.
That was enough to send this musician looking for patterns!
However, sound and electromagnetic waves are different physical phenomena. Sound involves mechanical vibrations in a material; electromagnetic waves involve electric and magnetic fields. Both can be described in Hertz, but similar frequency numbers do not establish that the two systems are interacting. NASA explains the distinction here.
My original suggestion was that music at A=432 might bring us into harmony with Earth’s frequencies. That was a proposed explanation, not something my observations demonstrated. Establishing that connection would require measurements showing how the systems interact and what effects follow.
Tuning, Dissonance, and Listening
Two notes intended to be the same pitch may produce audible beats when they are slightly different. Musicians listen for these effects as they adjust their tuning.
Dissonance is a broader musical subject. It can be an intentional part of a composition, creating tension, movement, or expression. It isn’t automatically a mistake or an indication that music is harmful.
That distinction matters when discussing wellbeing. Musical tension is not, by itself, evidence of harmful “competing frequencies” within the body.
My informal singing comparison
In Singing at A=432, I described listening to online videos of unaccompanied singers and checking their pitches with a tuner on my phone. I compared those readings with frequency charts and noticed what appeared to be matches near A=432.
Those observations interested me, but the method had limitations. I didn’t control the recording conditions. But I did verify that singers had not received a starting pitch for the live singers and obviously those in African tribes. Other recordings, there was no way to verify that they didn't get a starting pitch before filming, or establish a consistent tuning system for each performance. A tuner reading from one note also cannot establish an entire group’s concert pitch or temperament.
Most importantly, those videos did not show the singers changing their pitches in response to a measured environmental influence. They therefore could not establish entrainment with Earth’s electromagnetic resonances.
The comparison was an exploratory listening exercise. It raised questions worth examining more carefully.
Even the appliances joined in
I also began noticing the hums, buzzes, and beeps around my home. Some sounded as though they matched notes in my recordings. Once you begin listening this way, everyday life becomes quite a soundtrack!
I described some of those experiences in Concert Pitch of Appliances and Entrainment.
Hearing a match was an observation. Concluding that an appliance had adjusted its frequency to my music—or to Earth—would require more evidence. I would need to measure a change and investigate what caused it.
The observations still belong in the story. They show where my questions began.
Where intention fits
Intention matters to me as a musician. I create music with a purpose, and that purpose informs how I approach a recording.
However, my intention alone cannot establish a particular biological effect or explain every listener’s response. Those are separate questions.
Someone may enjoy my music or find it helpful for quiet reflection without sharing my ideas about tuning. I welcome that. Listening is personal, and people don’t all experience the same recording in the same way.
Try listening for the rhythm
Choose a piece with a clear, comfortable beat. Listen for a moment, then gently tap along.
Notice how you find the pulse. If you lose it, how do you rejoin? If the music changes pace, what do you do?
Now listen without deliberately moving. What catches your attention—the rhythm, melody, tone, or something else?
There’s no special tuning requirement for this exercise. It’s an opportunity to notice how you engage with music.
My early questions about entrainment took me into singing, tuning, appliances, and Earth’s resonances. Revisiting them helps me distinguish what I noticed from what I could demonstrate. There’s still plenty to explore—and plenty of music to make along the way.
Del Hungerford
© 2015; revised 2026