Meantone temperament history books

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. Book on historical tuning historical tuning of keyboard instruments. 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. An equal temperament is a musical temperament or tuning system, which approximates just intervals by dividing an octave or other interval into equal steps. Historical evidence suggests equal temperament was used for lutes from.

Here i will outline the realm of alternative tunings. In musical tuning, a temperament is a tuning system that slightly compromises the pure intervals of just intonation to meet other requirements. The welltempered clavier is a collection of two books of keyboard music. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. A clear and practical introduction to temperament history. A good book for further reading is mark lindleys lutes, viols and temperaments.

Meantone temperament is a musical temperament, that is a tuning system, obtained by slightly compromising the fifths in order to improve the thirds. Meantone temperament sacrificed the seconds, which were mainly melodic intervals rather than harmonic ones anyway, to achieve beautiful thirds. Owen jorgensen on temperament about the temperament. Searching the internetand especially for either unequal temperament or meantone produces many hits, although only a few are really interesting. 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. 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. Equal temperament, in music, a tuning system in which the octave is divided into 12 semitones of equal size.

Well temperament first appeared at about the same time as meantone, but didnt come into general use until the time of bach and handel. The temperament dates and detailed temperament information are drawn primarily from jorgensens tome, tuning. The change to equal temperament happened at different times in different countries. 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. Written for musicians by a musician, meantone temperaments on lutes and viols demystifies tuning systems by providing the basic information. Historical tuning of keyboard instruments and why bach used well. A series of nine articles by fred sturm, published in the piano technicians journal in 20102011. Large organs with romantic voicing and extensive unification should be tuned to equal temperament. 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. This book is welcome, aiming as it does to combine the historical, theoretical. The careful process of listening to and adjusting the keyboard can be summarized into process flowcharts. This book is welcome, aiming as it does to combine the historical, theoretical, and practical aspects of this sometimes vexed and controversial. It is thought to have first started in france in the last quarter of the 17th century in keyboard instruments.

Examples are disc assessment, social styles, and a theory that adds a fifth temperament. Written for musicians by a musician, meantone temperaments on lutes and. In the meantone temperament major thirds are the same size as those in the harmonic series 1. Meantone tuning appeared sometime around the late 15th. Meantone temperaments on lutes and viols publications of the. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading meantone temperaments on lutes and viols publications of the early music institute. 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 and temperament in bachs time adapted by ben chi from a posting by daniel pyle writing to piporgl, paul west said. Understanding a childs temperament can help reframe how parents interpret childrens behavior and the way parents think about the reasons for behaviors.

Meantone temperaments on lutes and viols publications of the early music institute kindle edition by dolata, david. A temperament is any plan that describes the adjustments to the. In the year 1496 franchino gafurio referred to the use of tempered fif on the organ. Meantone temperament is a musical temperament, which is a system of musical tuning. Each book contains 24 relatively free, improvisatory preludes, each of which precedes a fugue. Organized chronologically, the book features a helpful glossary and numerous illustrative tables, and it requires minimal background in music theory. By the early 17th century meantone temperament was the norm. Owen jorgensen on temperament about the temperament used by j. In meantone, all but one of the fifths are flattened from the pure 3. Construction of musical scales using pythagorean, meantone, equaltemperament, and welltemperament systems.

Information about robert chuckrows book on historical tuning enables even those with. It is also called the schismic temperament, helmholtz temperament, or quasipythagorean temperament. It is quite satisfactory for music written in the old modes that preceded the major and minor scales, provided there is no modulation whatever. Summary of equaltemperament, meantone, and welltemperament systems. Meantone temperament, system of tuning keyboard instruments, most prevalent from the early 16th century through the 18th century. Meantone is best suited for the performance of early music on the harpsichord or organ. 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. 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. Click on a type of temperament meantone, modified meantone, well, victorian well, quasiequal, or equal. Bailey saunders, the wisdom of life, being the first part of arthur schopenhauers aphorismen zur lebensweisheit.

Meantone temperament was oriented around major thirds a musical interval, such as ce, covering four semitones. Please stop back later for books about temperament. 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. It is not so difficult to tune your lute in meantone temperament, and the result is. A schismatic temperament is a musical tuning system that results from tempering the schisma of 32805. Bach and others by owen jorgensen it was a significant historical event when j. A meantone tuning is any modification of just tuning in which all pitches in a scale. 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. Fifteenthcentury evidence for meantone temperament jstor. Keyboards were tuned so that the major third would be. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. Regular meantone doesnt work for a bach d minor piece.

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 by david dolata. 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. This has been recorded by medieval music scholar margo schulter. 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. Pythagorean apotome project gutenberg selfpublishing. Equal temperament is the only practical temperament for the modern piano. 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.

Most modern western musical instruments are tuned in the equal temperament system. Having discovered the joys of meantone temperament, physicist reinhardt. 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. An introduction to historical tunings by kyle gann 1. History of tuning and temperament ii greek tunings. Numerous books have been written advising parents how to raise their spirited youngsters. Meantone temperaments on lutes and viols publications of. Meantone temperaments on lutes and viols publications of the early music institute david dolata on. It is innate temperament, acting on a view of the facts necessarily incomplete, that has inspired so many different teachers.