Energy is Frequency

Originally published in 2015; updated in 2026.

A note from Del: This article began early in my exploration of music, frequency, and the body. A presentation sparked questions that sent me down several rabbit holes. I’ve since clarified some of the terminology and separated established findings from the possibilities I was considering. That’s part of the research journey—sometimes we return to an earlier question with a better understanding of what to ask!

Thanks to Brenda Judah and Karen Jin for sharing information that encouraged this exploration. The presentation from the Integrity Biofeedback Academy introduced ideas about the body’s electrical activity and electromagnetic properties.

As a musician, my curiosity went straight to sound. How does music interact with the body? What are we experiencing when we feel a note resonate? And how much can we learn by paying closer attention Those questions still interest me. Before following them, though, a few definitions help.

Energy, Vibration, and Frequency

The title of this article reflects where my exploration began. Scientifically, energy and frequency describe different things, even though they are related in particular ways.

Frequency tells us how often something repeats. We measure it in Hertz, meaning cycles per second. Wavelength describes the distance between corresponding points on successive waves.

Sound travels through mechanical vibrations in air, water, or other materials. Light and radio waves involve oscillating electric and magnetic fields. Both have frequencies, but sharing a unit of measurement doesn’t make them the same kind of wave. NASA explains this distinction here.

That matters when we move between discussions of musical notes, brain activity, and electromagnetic fields. We need to ask what is vibrating, what is being measured, and how the proposed interaction would occur.

Planck’s and Einstein’s work helped establish a relationship between light’s frequency and the energy of its individual packets, called photons. That relationship doesn’t mean a person, an organ, or a state of health can be reduced to one musical note. Read more about photon energy here.

There’s plenty to explore without expecting one explanation to account for everything!

What Can We Measure in the Body?

The body has electrical activity and produces weak magnetic fields. Researchers and clinicians can measure some of these signals with specialized instruments.

One instrument mentioned in the original presentation is a SQUID: a superconducting quantum interference device. It is a sensitive magnetic-field detector, rather than the name of a study. SQUIDs have been used to measure extremely weak fields associated with activity in the brain and heart. NIST describes these applications here.

Biofeedback is another area that caught my attention. It uses measurements of bodily functions to give people information that may help them learn to influence those functions. For example, some forms measure muscle tension. NCCIH provides an explanation of biofeedback here.

These are interesting starting points. However, measuring a signal and demonstrating that a treatment works are different steps. A claim about detecting disease or improving health needs evidence for the particular device, method, and condition involved.

What About Kirlian Photography?

Kirlian photography was another topic in the presentation. These striking images record an electrical corona discharge produced under an applied high voltage.

Research has shown that moisture can account for much of the variation in the photographs. The images therefore should not be treated as direct pictures of a person’s health or a unique healing-energy field. See the research on corona discharge photography.

The pictures may be fascinating, but understanding how an image is produced matters when deciding what it tells us.

Where Does the Music Fit?

This is where my experience as a musician enters the conversation.

As a clarinetist, I feel vibrations while playing. They are part of how I experience tone and tuning. Learning about percussionist Evelyn Glennie’s approach to listening through her body gave me more questions to explore. I discuss that in Musical Frequencies and the Human Body.

Feeling sound provides a starting point for observation. It doesn’t, on its own, tell us whether a particular pitch can treat a particular condition. That would require a different kind of investigation.

Still, we can pay attention to our own responses. Does a sound feel pleasant or uncomfortable? Does a performance hold our attention? Do we notice ourselves relaxing, becoming restless, or remembering something?

Those experiences are worth noticing, even when we don’t yet understand all the reasons behind them.

Schumann Resonances and Musical Tuning

body’s electromagnetic activity and Schumann resonances.

Schumann resonances are electromagnetic resonances in the region between Earth’s surface and the ionosphere, excited mainly by lightning. The lowest is around 7.8 Hz. It's difficult to pin down the exact concert pitch for 7.8 Hz but it's below the A=432 concert pitch. NASA explains the phenomenon here.

Naturally, I wanted to compare those numbers with musical pitches. Could there be a connection? That remains a question requiring careful investigation. Finding a numerical resemblance does not establish that music recorded at A=432 synchronizes the body with Earth’s electromagnetic environment. It also doesn’t establish that such synchronization explains a listener’s relaxation.

Concert pitch alone does not define every interval in a tuning system, either. The temperament and the musical relationships being used matter. For background, see Understanding Concert Pitch.

Let's Listen!

Here’s something you can explore for yourself.

Listen to two performances of one of my favorite pieces, Mozart’s Gran Partita. The first uses period instruments; the second uses modern instruments.

These performances differ in more than their instruments. Interpretation, recording conditions, and potentially tuning also contribute to what you hear. This is a listening comparison, rather than a controlled test of concert pitch.

• Zefiro Ensemble—period instruments
• Denmark’s Radio Symphony Orchestra winds—modern instruments

Listen at a comfortable volume. You might choose the same passage in each performance and switch between them. What catches your attention? Do you notice differences in tone, blend, or character? Does one performance appeal to you more? Perhaps you enjoy them both for different reasons.

There’s no required response. You may hear a great deal of difference, or very little. I’ll leave my preferences out of it so you can discover your own.

And a little something for the instrument enthusiasts: look for the basset horns, members of the clarinet family. Their appearance differs between the period and modern versions. You knew I’d find a way to bring this back to clarinets!

If you’d like to explore your listening choices further, visit How to Choose Healing Music.

This article started with a presentation and a handful of questions. Some led to useful information. Others needed more careful examination. That’s how this journey continues: listen, notice, ask questions, and return to the evidence as our understanding grows.

What did you notice in the Mozart performances? Feel free to share your observations below.

Del Hungerford
© 2015; revised 2026