Which Are Right For Me

Our human ears can’t hear every sound under the sun. If you remember that dog whistle right at the beginning, the reason we can’t hear it is that the pitch is created at a higher frequency than we are able to hear.

Our brain can hear sounds from 20hz to 20 000hz. Some scientists have said we can also hear sounds under 20hz, or rather we may not be able to hear them, but when they are played our brain reacts to them. These may not be immediately audible to our ears, unless played very loudly, but binaural beats below this limit have been produced in the brain during experiments.

All binaural beats are played at 40hz or less, to match the brainwaves.

We have five main brainwave states in our brain, each corresponding to a different level of consciousness. The precise frequencies vary a little person to person, so a range is provided to compensate.

Delta: Less that 4hz

The state of awareness our deepest one, a state where we don’t dream, and lose all sense of body awareness.

Use binaural beats in this range if you want to experience better sleep. Listening to these just before bed can help lead you into a deep and restful state.

Theta: 4-7hz

This is our REM sleep, the part of our sleep that we dream in. It’s also possible to reach this state with deep meditation. Lucid dreaming can be done at this level as we are both unconscious enough to give our subconscious rein, but aware enough to control the actions of us, others in the dreams and our environment.

Because this helps the subconscious play, this state is best for people who want healing of either their bodies or their mind. It allows our brain to fix the broken parts itself.

Alpha 7-13hz

This is the lightest level of relaxation state, and we move into this state every day as we fall asleep and then as we awake. It’s that lovely sleepy, relaxed state that we drift off from into sleep. It’s also our meditation and distressing state and can be very energizing if you are experiencing large levels of stress.

Beta 14-35hz

If you are active, or busy, and are thinking anxious thoughts, this is the state your brain is currently in. If you want to increase your learning potential, select binaural beats in this frequency to enhance the learning process.

Gamma more than 40hz

This is our conscious state. Our higher mental activity resides in this state and we engage these brainwaves when problem solving. Our brains are in this state for much of the day, and we generally don’t need to increase our amount of time spent in this state.

The brain will entrain within one of these frequencies, selecting the one that is the best match for the sounds played. For example if it is played in the alpha range, it affects the alpha brainwaves, and improves our relaxation.

Sounds played that correspond to the beta brainwaves however would make you feel more alert as they are part of the awake brain. A study that set out to show how different frequencies could change the brain in different ways took two groups of people and played different frequencies to each. One group was played frequencies in the Beta range, and the other was played frequencies in the Delta range. After the tracks were played they found that listeners of the Beta range tested as being more awake and alert than those listening to the Delta beats.