Sound Therapy and Harmonics and Frequency

I use a lot of music terminology in some of these posts but based on some of the questions I get, not everyone understands what this terminology means or, why it is important. 

Hertz (Hz) and Cycles per Second (cps) You'll come across this often with tuning forks because tuning forks are identified by the hertz. The terms hertz, frequency and cycles per second are used interchangeably and for our purposes, mean the same thing. If a tuning fork's frequency is 64 hertz (Hz), then it's cycles per second (cps) is 64. This means it will "beat" 64 time per second. Take a look at the image to the right. In the span of 1 second, a 1Hz tuning fork beats 1 times per second so it has a cps of 1 and its frequency or hertz is 1 (it is not possible to make a tuning fork of 1Hz, just too low).

Why is this important?

If you want to work with higher frequencies, choose tuning forks with a higher cps. Just know that at some point, the tuning fork will not play. For example, I have some forks in the 4000Hz - 5000Hz range. These will only play for a few seconds whereas a 256Hz fork might go for as long as a minute. The higher the frequency, the shorter the play time.

Higher frequencies can be hard to listen to so always balance with a lower frequency.

Understanding harmonics really does not matter for healing purposes but, harmonics are important because they create a great healing environment. Not all manufacturers create tuning fork sets with good harmonics. You can tell the difference because an instrument which does not have good harmonics will sound a little dull.