Strike, hold, listen: your first ritual, step by step
You don't need training or a special room. A fork, the mallet and a few quiet minutes are enough. Start with one fork and add the others as the week goes on.
Strike
Hold the fork by its stem, away from your face. Tap one prong with the mallet, or tap it on the puck if your set has one. A light tap is enough: a fork plays the same note however hard you strike it. Strike only with the mallet or on the puck, since a table, a stone or a metal edge can chip a fork.
Hold
Keep your fingers on the stem. Anything that touches a prong stops the sound: a finger, a sleeve, the edge of the bag.
Listen
For an unweighted fork, bring it about two inches from your ear, close but not touching, and listen until the ring fades. For a weighted fork, hold the stem and feel it hum in your hand. When the sound is gone, strike again, or set the fork down and sit for a moment.
Safety and care
Strike the forks only with the mallet or on the puck. A table, stone or metal edge can chip a fork and change its pitch. Strike away from your face. To listen, hold the fork about two inches from your ear, without touching it, and keep the prongs away from your eyes. Leave the weights where they are: their position sets the pitch. Keep the forks in their bag or case. This is not a toy: keep the key and the small parts away from young children.
Weighted or unweighted?
Weighted forks have round weights near the tips of the prongs. Hold one by the stem and you feel a hum in your hand, more than you hear it. Unweighted forks are bare. They ring clear, so you listen with your ear. In The Four, the two low forks carry weights: the 128 (a low C) and the 136.1 (close to C sharp). The 256 (C) and the 384 (G) are bare.
Which fork first?
Start with one fork: the 256, the C. It's day one in The Ritual Guide, which adds a small step each day for your first week.
How long?
As long as the ring lasts, then strike again. A few minutes a day is plenty to start.
Two forks together
Strike the 256, then the 384, and hold them side by side, about two inches from your ear. The two notes make a perfect fifth, the jump from C to G. The 128 and the 256 make an octave: the same C, one low and one higher.
Good moments for a ritual
First thing in the morning, before the phone. At your desk, between two tasks. In the evening, once the dishes are done. On your mat, to open or close yoga or meditation.
Looking after your forks
Keep the forks in their bag or case so they don't knock together. Wipe them with a soft, dry cloth. Leave the weights where they are: their position sets the pitch.
John Shore, a trumpeter in London, invented the tuning fork in 1711 to tune instruments. That's more than 300 years ago.