By Dana Wilson

Tuning forks may seem like simple tools, but their story spans centuries. First created in the early 1700s by British musician John Shore, a celebrated trumpeter in the English royal court, the tuning fork was originally designed as a reliable way to tune his lute, an instrument he moved towards after a serious lip injury. While his success with the lute may have faded into history, the pure, unwavering tone of his invention has endured.

To this day, musicians wanting an analog option with which to tune an instrument, strike a tuning fork near the tip of one tine and hold it close to the ear, or place its stem against a guitar or a resonant surface to match the pitch. The tone produced is pure- similar to a sine wave – because each tine vibrates symmetrically in opposite directions, stabilized at the base. But not all tuning forks are the same. There are primarily two types- weighted and unweighted.

The Difference Between Weighted vs. Unweighted Tuning Forks 

Unweighted tuning forks

• Produce a louder, longer-lasting audible tone 
• Used for hearing tests and musical tuning 
• Good for sound baths & auditory meditation 
• Generally used around the body, not on it 

Weighted tuning forks 

• Have small weights on the tines 
• Create stronger vibrations on the stem 
• Produce more feeling than sound 
• Used directly on the body in therapeutic work 
• Ideal for acupuncture points, trigger points, or fascia work 

While they are distinct, both varieties have found their way into concert halls as well as clinics.

Where Music Meets Medicine

The connection between tuning forks and the ear is both literal and symbolic. Because they produce clean, predictable frequencies, tuning forks became ideal tools in early audiology and neurological assessment – long before electronic devices existed.

Tuning Forks for Audiology: The Weber and Rinne Tests

There are two main audiology tests, often using a 128Hz or a 512Hz tuning fork, that are still used in mainstream medicine today:

• The Weber Test


A vibrating tuning fork is placed at the center of the forehead to assess whether sound is heard equally in both ears. This helps clinicians identify asymmetrical hearing loss. 

• The Rinne Test


The fork is placed against the mastoid bone and then next to the ear canal. Normally, the latter lasts longer. If a patient hears the tone longer through the bone, it may indicate a blockage or conductive hearing loss.

These two audiology tests using tuning forks are still valued in medicine, because they’re quick, non-invasive, and use this very simple yet effective technology.

Frequency Matters

The following three frequencies are used most often in clinical exams, and the consistency of their use is part of why tuning forks remain relevant in medicine despite advances in digital equipment. 

• 512 Hz has a long, clear ring and is ideal for hearing tests like the Rinne and Weber—for assessing air vs. bone conduction. 
• 256 Hz can be used for neurological exams, though less common than the 128 Hz because its vibration is strong but not painfully intense 
• 128 Hz is the preferred fork for orthopedic and neurological assessment due to its slower, stronger vibration, which transmits well through bone. 

Assessing Nerve Function and Vibration Sense

One of the most widespread clinical uses of tuning forks is to assess peripheral nerve health. When applied to bony points such as the ankle, big toe, or wrist, vibration helps clinicians screen for conditions such as diabetic neuropathy or sensorineural deficits. Reduced ability to feel vibration may be an early warning sign of nerve compromise.

Evaluating Possible Fractures

In sports medicine and athletic therapy, a 128 Hz tuning fork has gained attention as an adjunct tool for fracture screening—especially when X-rays or imaging aren’t immediately available. 

The fork is struck and placed on the bone distal to a suspected fracture, with a stethoscope or direct listening proximal to the injury. Differences in sound transmission between sides can indicate a disruption in bone continuity. 

Research, including early reports in the New England Journal of Medicine, suggests that fractures may reduce the pitch or volume transmitted through the bone. Although not a replacement for X-rays, this method is quick, painless, and useful in remote settings. 

Also, though they are low-risk tools, forks placed directly on the body should not be used over open wounds, fresh surgical sites, or areas of acute inflammation.

Understanding why tuning forks work in these assessments requires a look at how vibration interacts with the body.

Vibration Travels

When a tuning fork touches the skin or bone, it activates specific receptors: 

• Pacinian corpuscles – respond to deep pressure & vibration 

• Meissner corpuscles – respond to light touch, and highest sensitivity between 10 – 50Hz 

• Bone conduction pathways – transmit vibration directly into the skull and nervous system

This is why tuning forks can help assess nerve health—and why people often feel deep relaxation when forks are used therapeutically.

To Poke or to Tune: Tuning Forks in Complementary Healing

Beyond allopathic medicine, tuning forks have also found a home in complementary therapies such as massage, shiatsu, craniosacral therapy, Feldenkrais, and Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). 

Dr. David Hartmann, a long-time TCM practitioner, has integrated tuning forks and Biofield Tuning into his work since 2009. His approach emphasizes the body’s fluid and vibratory nature: 

“Forks work really well with the water in us and resonate off our bones, which we can’t do with acupuncture needles,” he explains. 

Some points—such as Kidney 1 on the sole of the foot—can be sensitive to needles but respond comfortably to the gentle vibration of a tuning fork. Other areas, like the face, offer deeply relaxing and restorative experiences and have become a specialty within his teaching and writing.

Binaural Beats and the Inner Listening Pathway

Tuning forks also intersect with the world of sound healing through binaural beats—an effect created when two slightly different frequencies are delivered to each ear. The brain perceives the difference between them as a third “beat” frequency, which may influence states of relaxation, focus, or meditation. 

Examples include:

  • 7.83 Hz (Schumann resonance) – often associated with grounding and calm
  • A 111 Hz differential, achievable by pairing the 417 Hz and 528 Hz, has been associated in a few studies and wellness communities with meditative and introspective states as it quiets the prefrontal cortex. 

These findings remain exploratory, but many practitioners and clients report meaningful shifts in mood, attention, and the felt sense of inner stillness.

In the end, tuning forks remind us that the body is not just something to be examined, but something to be felt and heard. Accessible, portable, and low-tech, they bridge worlds—music and medicine, science and spirit—and invite us to listen deeply, to tune in, and to experience our bodies as living, resonant instruments.

GO DEEPER WITH BIOFIELD TUNING

Written by Dana Wilson. With over 15 years of training in holistic healing modalities, including Biofield Tuning, Kinesiology, and Reiki, Dana offers a grounded, integrative approach to energy work. If you are curious about Biofield Tuning or would like to book an in-person or distance biofield tuning session, contact Dana at aweandreverence@protonmail.com