A series of nine articles by fred sturm, published in the piano technicians journal in 20102011. In meantone temperament, this effect is even more pronounced the fifth over the break in the circle is known as the wolf interval, as its intense beating was likened to a howling. Meantone temperaments are constructed the same way as pythagorean tuning, as a stack of equal fifths, but in meantone each fifth is narrow compared to the perfect fifth of ratio 3. Historical tuning of keyboard instruments and why bach used well. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading meantone temperaments on lutes and viols publications of the early music institute. Well temperament first appeared at about the same time as meantone, but didnt come into general use until the time of bach and handel. This book is welcome, aiming as it does to combine the historical, theoretical, and practical aspects of this sometimes vexed and controversial.
The welltempered clavier is a collection of two books of keyboard music. This has been recorded by medieval music scholar margo schulter. Meantone temperament is a musical temperament, that is a tuning system, obtained by slightly. One of the most popular today is the keirsey temperament sorter, whose four temperaments were based largely on the greek gods apollo, dionysus, epimetheus, and prometheus, and were mapped to the 16 types of the myersbriggs type indicator mbti. Most modern western musical instruments are tuned in the equal temperament system. Bailey saunders, the wisdom of life, being the first part of arthur schopenhauers aphorismen zur lebensweisheit. Here i will outline the realm of alternative tunings.
J murray barbour the demands of tuning attaining the perfect scale and temperament the compromises necessary for composing in every key have challenged musicians from the earliest civilizations onward. Numerous books have been written advising parents how to raise their spirited youngsters. Regular meantone doesnt work for a bach d minor piece. Examples are disc assessment, social styles, and a theory that adds a fifth temperament. Bach and others by owen jorgensen it was a significant historical event when j. A process of adjustment, creating temperament ordinaire from a regular layout the good irregular temperaments come from handson practice, carefully moving notes up or down until everything works. Notwithstanding the many music history books from the first half of the 20th century, where it is blithely stated that bach invented equal temperament or some such nonsense, handed down from generations of people who did not do their homework on this. Meantone temperament is a musical temperament, which is a system of musical tuning. What is the significance of the welltempered clavier.
Written for musicians by a musician, meantone temperaments on lutes and viols demystifies tuning systems by providing the basic information, historical context, and practical advice necessary to easily achieve more satisfying tuning results on fretted instruments. Historical developments are central to discussions of temperament because the music of the time is tied to the temperament of the time. This guide surveys these longstanding problems, devoting a chapter to each principal theory and offering a running account of the complete history of tuning and temperament. Construction of musical scales using pythagorean, meantone, equaltemperament, and welltemperament systems. History of temperament and temperament theory tradition has it that fat men are jolly and generous, that lean men are dour, that short men are aggressive, and that strong men are silent and confident. Meantone temperaments on lutes and viols publications of the early music institute kindle edition by dolata, david. A good book for further reading is mark lindleys lutes, viols and temperaments. If the text of the temperament file just appears on the screen of your browser, then select save as in your browser to save the temperament file on your hard disk. An introduction to historical tunings by kyle gann 1.
In general, a meantone is constructed the same way as pythagorean tuning, as a stack of perfect fifths, but in meantone, each fifth is narrow compared to the ratio 2 712. Meantone tuning appeared sometime around the late 15th. It is not so difficult to tune your lute in meantone temperament, and the result is. Meantone temperament is a musical temperament, that is a tuning system, obtained by slightly compromising the fifths in order to improve the thirds.
Meantone temperaments on lutes and viols publications of. Searching the internetand especially for either unequal temperament or meantone produces many hits, although only a few are really interesting. Summary of equaltemperament, meantone, and welltemperament systems. This book is welcome, aiming as it does to combine the historical, theoretical. Meantone temperaments on lutes and viols publications of the early music institute david dolata on. An equal temperament is a musical temperament, or a system of tuning, in which the frequency interval between every pair of adjacent notes has the same ratio. Recent scholarship has supported the proposition that this was the type of temperament that bach himself preferred, not equal temperament as advanced by 19th century musicologists.
Equal temperament is the only practical temperament for the modern piano. In music theory, a diatonic scale is a heptatonic scale that includes five whole steps whole tones and two half steps in each octave, in which the two half steps are separated from each other by either two or three whole steps, depending on their position in the scale. Even though d minor along with c major is typically the home key for regular meantone layouts, here is a simple proof by example that bach couldnt have intended such a regular layout for the inventionssinfonias. Click on a type of temperament meantone, modified meantone, well, victorian well, quasiequal, or equal. Meantone is best suited for the performance of early music on the harpsichord or organ. Fifteenthcentury evidence for meantone temperament jstor. A temperament is any plan that describes the adjustments to the. Jan 01, 2004 this guide surveys these longstanding problems, devoting a chapter to each principal theory and offering a running account of the complete history of tuning and temperament. The composer dates were quickly abstracted from classical nets timeline of composers. The use of 53 equal temperament provides a solution for the pythagorean tuning, and 31 equal temperament for the meantone. It is also called the schismic temperament, helmholtz temperament, or quasipythagorean temperament.
This temperament is easy to explain and to tune, but it leaves a lot of the notes of the scale in quite odd positions. An equal temperament is a musical temperament or tuning system, which approximates just intervals by dividing an octave or other interval into equal steps. Pythagorean apotome project gutenberg selfpublishing. Understanding a childs temperament can help reframe how parents interpret childrens behavior and the way parents think about the reasons for behaviors. Meantone temperament was oriented around major thirds a musical interval, such as ce, covering four semitones. In meantone, all but one of the fifths are flattened from the pure 3.
Because it enables keyboard instruments to play in all keys with minimal flaws in intonation, equal temperament replaced earlier tuning systems that were based on acoustically pure intervals. It is quite satisfactory for music written in the old modes that preceded the major and minor scales, provided there is no modulation whatever. A meantone tuning is any modification of just tuning in which all pitches in a scale. A clear and practical introduction to temperament history. Keyboards were tuned so that the major third would be. Please stop back later for books about temperament. Book on historical tuning historical tuning of keyboard instruments. History music nonfiction written for musicians by a musician, meantone temperaments on lutes and viols demystifies tuning systems by providing the basic information, historical context, and practical advice necessary to easily achieve more satisfying tuning results on fretted instruments. Having discovered the joys of meantone temperament, physicist reinhardt. How then, can this little book a translation of the authors german version. This means the ratio of the frequencies of any adjacent pair of notes is the same, which gives an equal perceived step size as pitch is perceived roughly as the logarithm of frequency. History of tuning and temperament ii greek tunings. Information about robert chuckrows book on historical tuning enables even those with.
Bach 1685 1750 titled his volume of the 24 preludes and. It is thought to have first started in france in the last quarter of the 17th century in keyboard instruments. Click on any one of these temperaments to download the temperament file. In musical tuning, a temperament is a tuning system that slightly compromises the pure intervals of just intonation to meet other requirements.
The demands of tuning attaining the perfect scale and temperament the compromises necessary for composing in every key have challenged musicians from the earliest civilizations onward. In the year 1496 franchino gafurio referred to the use of tempered fif on the organ. In the meantone temperament major thirds are the same size as those in the harmonic series 1. Written for musicians by a musician, meantone temperaments on lutes and. The careful process of listening to and adjusting the keyboard can be summarized into process flowcharts. Meantone temperament sacrificed the seconds, which were mainly melodic intervals rather than harmonic ones anyway, to achieve beautiful thirds. They cover a period of roughly 1500 1850, and are based mostly on practical tuning instructions of that time, from italy, france, germany and england. By the early 17th century meantone temperament was the norm. A schismatic temperament is a musical tuning system that results from tempering the schisma of 32805.
Owen jorgensen on temperament about the temperament used by j. The change to equal temperament happened at different times in different countries. Owen jorgensen on temperament about the temperament. Historical evidence suggests equal temperament was used for lutes from. Organized chronologically, the book features a helpful glossary and numerous illustrative tables, and it requires minimal background in music theory. Written for musicians by a musician, meantone temperaments on lutes and viols demystifies tuning systems by providing the basic information. Meantone temperaments on lutes and viols by david dolata. Equal temperament, in music, a tuning system in which the octave is divided into 12 semitones of equal size. Meantone temperament, system of tuning keyboard instruments, most prevalent from the early 16th century through the 18th century. Tempering is the process of altering the size of an interval by making it narrower or wider than pure. Meantone temperaments on lutes and viols publications of the. Meantone and temperament in bachs time adapted by ben chi from a posting by daniel pyle writing to piporgl, paul west said. The temperament dates and detailed temperament information are drawn primarily from jorgensens tome, tuning. It is innate temperament, acting on a view of the facts necessarily incomplete, that has inspired so many different teachers.