963 Hz: the frequency of the gods, as a pure tone

What is 963 Hz

963 Hz is a tone that vibrates 963 times a second. Its wave in air is 36 centimetres long, the shortest of the set.

The nearest key of a piano is B5, which sounds at 987.77 Hz. 963 Hz lies 44 cents below it, almost halfway to the key underneath. A cent is a hundredth of a semitone.

963 Hz is the ninth and highest tone of the set. It does not belong to the six original tones that Joseph Puleo put forward in the 1970s: it was added later by other authors, together with 174 and 285 Hz. That is why it has no syllable. The six syllables from Ut to La belong to the tones from 396 to 852 Hz.

The number follows the same patterns as the rest of the set.

• The digits add up to 9: 9 + 6 + 3 = 18, and 1 + 8 = 9.
• It is made of the same digits as 396 and 639, in a different order.
• It stands 111 above 852 Hz, the same step that separates most neighbours in the set.

963 Hz, the god frequency: meaning, benefits and the crown chakra

The tradition calls 963 Hz the frequency of the gods; in searches the name is shortened to the god frequency. Practitioners use the tone for oneness and for connection with the higher.

In plain words the name describes an aim, not a property of the sound. The aim is a state that spiritual practice looks for: the sense that you are part of something larger than yourself.

963 Hz is assigned to the crown chakra, the centre at the top of the head. The highest tone of the set goes with the highest of the seven chakras.

In Russian-language sound therapy 963 Hz has one more name, the money frequency. It is a name used by practitioners, and no study has tested it.

963 Hz and pineal gland activation

Practitioners say that 963 Hz activates the pineal gland, a small gland deep in the brain.

What is meant, in plain words, is an experience: a sense of clarity and wakefulness, of being open to something higher. The tradition gives this experience a place in the body, and the place it names is the pineal gland.

No study has tested whether 963 Hz changes anything in the pineal gland. It is a claim of the tradition, and this page reports it as one.

You can meditate with the tone without settling the question. What you can judge yourself is the experience: how you feel during the session and after it.

What does 963 Hz do to the brain: what research exists

No controlled studies in people have tested 963 Hz on its own, so nobody has measured what it does to the brain.

What is certain is the hearing part. The ear receives a high, steady tone just under the note B5. With a binaural beat the brain hears one more thing, the difference between the two tones, as a slow pulse. In a meta-analysis of 22 studies binaural beats had a medium overall effect on memory, attention, anxiety and pain perception.

Among the solfeggio tones only 528 Hz has been tested in people. In a small study of nine adults five minutes of music tuned to 528 Hz lowered cortisol, the stress hormone, and raised oxytocin; the same kind of music tuned to 440 Hz did not. In a trial with 60 patients with stage 1 hypertension a month of daily listening to OM chanting at 528 Hz lowered pulse and blood pressure and improved sleep. The control group listened to nothing, so the frequency cannot be separated from the chanting and the quiet listening.

One study looked at brain tissue, in rats. A 528 Hz sound at 100 dB raised the production of testosterone in the brain and lowered reactive oxygen species. 100 dB is far louder than safe listening for people, so the result says nothing about a quiet tone at home.

The broadest evidence is about music in general: a review of 104 randomised trials with 9,617 participants found that music interventions reduce stress.

How to listen to 963 Hz

963 Hz is the highest and the most piercing tone of the nine. One rule comes before all others: play it more quietly than any other tone on these pages.

• Turn the volume of your device to the lowest step, choose 963 Hz and press Play.
• Raise the volume one step at a time and stop when you just hear the tone.
• Switch on the brown noise background before you settle. It takes the edge off the tone.
• Sit upright or lie down, close your eyes and breathe slowly: in for a count of four, out for a count of six.
• Set the timer to 5 minutes. After the fade-out stay in silence for a moment and notice how your ears feel.
• Move to 15 minutes only when 5 minutes are comfortable.

The pure tone sounds the same through a speaker, and a speaker at arm's length is gentler than headphones. Headphones are needed only for a binaural beat.

963 Hz meditation and 963 Hz for sleep

Meditation is the main use of 963 Hz. Sleep is a common search too, although for sleep the tradition uses 174 Hz and 528 Hz. The table gives a setting for each.

In meditation breathe slowly for the first minutes. Then place your attention at the top of the head, where the tradition puts the crown, and rest on the sound. When thoughts come, return to the tone.

For sleep, judge after two or three evenings. A bare high tone is too bright for falling asleep, and even softened it does not suit everyone. If it keeps you awake, keep the delta beat and the noise and move the slider down to 174 Hz.

If headphones disturb you in bed, listen without the beat through a speaker at arm's length from the pillow.

963 Hz binaural beats

A binaural beat needs two tones below 1000 Hz. 963 Hz is close to that limit and still inside it: with the fastest beat of the generator the right ear hears 973 Hz.

The pitch is the solfeggio tone and the pulse is the beat. You need headphones, because each ear must hear its own tone. What the theta beat does in meditation is described on the page about binaural beats for meditation.

963 Hz pure tone or 963 Hz music

A pure tone of 963 Hz is a single high pitch. It is the exact sound the tradition speaks of, and it is the hardest of the nine to listen to for long.

963 Hz music is music tuned so that one of its notes falls on 963 Hz. Around that note there are lower notes, rhythm and pauses, so the ear gets rest.

For a session of 5 to 15 minutes the pure tone with the brown noise background is enough. For half an hour or more choose music. The research on stress was done with music and chanting, not with a bare tone.

963 Hz tuning fork: how to use it

The 963 Hz fork is the highest of the set of nine. It sounds for 20 to 40 seconds after a strike.

• Strike it gently on a rubber activator or on the knee, never on a hard surface: metal on metal damages the fork and adds overtones.
• Hold an unweighted fork a few centimetres from the ear. If the tone feels sharp, hold it further away.
• Place the stem of a weighted fork, the kind with discs on the prongs, lightly on the top of the head. This is where the tradition places the crown chakra.
• Wait until the sound has faded, breathe slowly a few times and strike again. Three strikes are enough.

Is 963 Hz safe: dangers and side effects

The searches for 963 Hz frequency dangers have a short answer: no study has described a harm specific to a solfeggio frequency.

The real risk is an ordinary one, volume and time. Hearing is harmed by loudness and duration, not by a particular frequency. The World Health Organization considers sound of up to 80 dB safe for 40 hours a week.

963 Hz asks for more care than any other tone of the set. It is the highest and the most piercing, and a pure tone is more tiring than music at the same volume.

963 Hz compared with 852 Hz and 741 Hz

963 Hz has a neighbour only on one side. The table compares it with the two tones below it.

If 963 Hz feels too sharp, 852 Hz is the closest alternative: sound therapy uses it for meditation too, and it is 111 Hz lower.