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Music Tuned to 432 Hz
Every song Joelyn Lutz records and performs is tuned to A = 432 Hz instead of the standard 440. Here is what that means, where it comes from, and why she does it.
Short answer: 432 Hz music is music tuned so that the A above middle C vibrates 432 times per second, rather than the 440 times per second used as the modern standard. Every other note shifts down with it by the same small amount, about a third of a semitone. Many listeners describe the result as slightly warmer and more relaxed.
What “432 Hz” actually refers to
Musicians need to agree on one reference note so that instruments play in tune with each other. That reference is called concert pitch, and it is defined by the frequency of the note A above middle C. Since the twentieth century the common standard has been 440 hertz, meaning 440 vibrations per second. Tuning to 432 Hz simply sets that reference note eight vibrations per second lower and tunes every other note relative to it.
It is not a different key or a different scale. A song in G major is still in G major. The whole piece just sits a hair lower than it would at 440.
How big is the difference?
Eight hertz sounds like a lot, but pitch works on a ratio, not a fixed step. The gap between 440 and 432 is about 32 cents, where 100 cents make one semitone. Played side by side you can hear it; heard on its own, most people would not notice anything unusual, only a general impression that the music feels a little softer or rounder. A guitar tuned to 432 needs roughly a quarter-turn of each tuning peg from standard.
A short history
Concert pitch has wandered a great deal. Baroque ensembles often played around 415 Hz; some nineteenth-century orchestras pushed above 450. The composer Giuseppe Verdi campaigned in the 1880s for a lower, fixed standard close to 432, partly to protect singers’ voices. An international conference in 1939 settled on 440 Hz, and that figure was later formalised as the ISO 16 standard. Most recordings you hear today use it, which is why 432 Hz stands out as a deliberate choice.
What people say it sounds like
Claims about 432 Hz range from the modest to the sweeping. The modest version is the one most listeners report: the music feels warmer, calmer, and easier to sit with for a long time. Beyond that, there is no settled scientific evidence that one tuning is healthier than another, and Joelyn does not make medical claims for her music. She describes 432 Hz as a healing vibration because that is how it feels to her when she sings, and audiences at retreats and house concerts tend to say the same after a set.
How Joelyn uses it
- Live: her Taylor acoustic is tuned to A = 432 for every performance, from the Pismo Beach pier to living-room concerts.
- In the studio: her albums, including Just Breathe, A Matter of Zen, and All of Us, were recorded and mastered in 432 Hz rather than pitch-shifted afterwards, so the instruments and vocals were performed at that pitch.
- Why: the lower tuning sits comfortably in her voice, suits the reflective side of her songwriting, and matches the settings where she is most often booked: wellness retreats, wineries, and intimate gatherings.
How to hear it for yourself
The easiest comparison is to play one of Joelyn’s tracks on Bandcamp next to any recent recording at standard pitch and listen for the slight drop in brightness. Better still, hear it live: the tuning is at its most noticeable with a single voice and acoustic guitar, which is how most of her pier shows and house concerts are played.
The numbers
Two tunings, one small shift, applied to every note.
Hear the songs
All six albums, streaming links, and videos are on the music page.