Tuning and Temperament Cents Coma Half- tone Whole-tone

INTRODUCTION: Are you feeling just a bit temperamental? Well! Then this is the place for you! But if you're expecting to determine your sanguine to phlegmatic balance here, I'm sorry to disappoint you. VERY, VERY BRIEF HISTORY 1 Back in the old days (as long ago as yesterday in some circles, but nearly 200 years ago for the most part) instrument tuning was anything but a standard art. Clear back in the days of Pythagoras it was recognized that there are problems with creating a perfectly tuned scale. Over the centuries there have been innumerable attempts to create tuning schemes that preserve the richness of perfectly tuned intervals while minimizing and distributing the errors that naturally occur when doing so. CIRCLE OF FIFTHS AND HARMONIC SERIES We'll talk about this 'error' and where it comes from in a minute. In order to continue, we must make some assumptions: First, you are familiar with the circle of fifths (c g d a e b f# c# g# d# a# (e#)f c). Second, you have a general working knowledge of frequency, harmonics (remember that long spring in physics class?) and the harmonic series. Quickly, let's review the harmonic series. Suppose your fundamental frequency is 100hz (100 vibrations per second), the first harmonic is double that, or 200hz. The second harmonic is found at 300hz, third at 400hz, etc. Musically speaking, we know that when frequency doubles, pitch increases by exactly one octave. We have also discovered that the 2nd harmonic (300 hz) is exactly one octave and a pure 2 fifth higher than the fundamental (100hz).

The natural thing to want to do, then, is to tune the instrument so that each fifth is pure, all the way around the circle of fifths until you reach the note you started with. In doing so, you would expect a perfectly tuned scale. Ok, let's tune one. For the sake of simplicity, we're going to start our tuning at a frequency of 100hz and we'll call it 'c' even though a real 'c' would be closer to 130-something. The first fifth would be tuned by ear by adjusting the pitch until a completely clear tone is produced with no beats. (Beats are that 'wah wah' sound that happens when your kids elementary school band is 'tuning up'.) If you put an electronic frequency analyzer on the string you tuned, you would find it vibrating 'g' at exactly 150hz. DO THE MATH... Mathematically, that's the fundamental (100hz) times 3 (300hz for the second harmonic), divided by 2 to drop it back into the same octave as your starting pitch. This relationship is frequently expressed in terms of the ratio 3:2. If you had the luxury of a tuning hammer and a professional tuner to repair the damage, you could assault your own piano. I don't recommend it. Since we can't demonstrate this process auditorially, let's do the math for the rest of the scale. Tune the next fifth up - 150 * 3 = 450/2 = 225, still more than an octave above the starting pitch, so we'll drop it another octave to 112.5 'd'. Moving on up... 112.5 * 3= 337.5 / 2 = 168.75 'a' * 3 = 506.25 / 2 = 253.125 / 2 = 126.5625 'e' * 3 = 379.6875 / 2= 189.84375 'b' * 3 = 569.53125 / 4( see footnote 3 ) = 142.3828125 'f#' * 3 = 427.1484375 / 4 = 106.787109375 'c#' * 3 = 320.361328125 / 2 = 160.1806640625 'g#' * 3 = 480.5419921875 / 4 = 120.1354980469 'd#' * 3 = 360.4064941406 / 2 = 180.2032470703 'a#' * 3 = 540.6097412109 / 4 = 135.1524353027 'e#(f)' * 3 = 405.4573059082 / 2 = 202.7286529541 'c'. OOPS! Do you see the problem? Earlier, we predicted (guided by well understood and established laws of physics) the octave above c(100) would be c(200). When we ran the practical proof, using a circle of perfectly tuned fifths, we ended up at c(202.7286529541), wide by nearly 3 cycles! So, what gives? This is not a mathematical rounding error either. I purposely didn't round any of the answers so you could see that. If we had been tuning this on a real instrument, the results would be clear. We have a choice, either each fifth is perfectly tuned; a pure, rich sonority with octaves out of tune, or perfectly tuned octaves with the final fifth, f to c glaringly out of tune. It doesn't take much discussion or experience to realize that our ears will not tolerate mis-tuned octaves in any form! THE COMMA This error, the difference between a perfectly tuned octave and the octave resulting from a tuned circle of fifths is known as the COMMA . For centuries now, musicians, mathematicians, theorists, tinkers, novices and experts have been trying to solve this conundrum.

Over the centuries numerous (or should that be innumerable?) schemes have been devised to accommodate this rather intrusive disruption of the musical fabric. The common consensus that has been in place for many years now is the concept of equal temperament 4 . However, getting to this point has not been an easy journey. Temperaments have been devised to maximize many different aspects of harmonic quality, all with compromises to others. Some maximize pure thirds (mean tone) while others emphasize pure fifths at the expense of the thirds (Kirnberger III). Every temperament has its own unique 'character'. A piece of music may sound fine in one key, but really terrible in another. Transposing a piece to a new key can completely change its character. Careful attention must be paid to the selection of temperaments for authentic performances of historic keyboard music. A wrong choice could result in an unsatisfactory and historically inaccurate musical experience, or necessitate the complete re-tuning of the instrument before the concert can proceed. WHY EQUAL TEMPERAMENT? Equal temperament takes the tuning 'error' (comma, or the disparity between a pure octave and an octave generated by tuning perfect fifths), and spreads it equally between each step of a chromatic scale. The result is actually a scale of equally mis-tuned intervals, with no interval grossly out of tune, but none in perfect tune. Equal temperament has become the de facto standard for a two main reasons 1. Convenience - It's quite troublesome to have to retune an instrument to a specific temperament that more adequately suits a particular piece of music. Many instruments are not capable of being alternately tuned (fretted string instruments in particular, and while the temperament of wind instruments cannot be altered, most allow sufficient pitch latitude to accommodate alternate temperaments). 2. Portability - every piece of important western music can be performed satisfactorily on an instrument tuned with equal temperament. Granted, some of the nuances may be missing for pieces that have their origins in another temperament, but pieces depending on equal temperament may be destroyed by the placement of various mis-tuned intervals. WHY STUDY ALTERNATE TEMPERAMENTS? Many musicians listen and perform their entire careers without ever venturing into the realm of alternate temperament tuning. Most theoretical musicians must make at least one foray into this domain. Some venture in and and are so mesmerized by the complex possibilities and a perfection compulsion that they never emerge again. If you are just embarking on an adventure into alternate temperaments, a few words of advice would be in order.

Be casual. Don't take it too seriously. Enjoy the stretch, hone your listening skills, lift your perceptions of pitch to a new level. Perfection is not possible. Mathematics proves this. Very many great minds have been applied to the problem of creating the perfect scale. Even though your perspective is unique, you won't be the one to find it either. A solution does not exist.

Take a historical perspective. The tension and release generated by music created to be played in an alternate temperament is a wonderful experience. Compare performances in equal temperament with a performance of the same piece in an alternate tuning. At first the differences are extremely subtle. As you become more accustomed to these subtleties, the results are astonishing and brilliant. It could change your entire perspective on how early music is to be performed. For example, many of the mysteries of baroque ornamentation become very clear. Let it go. Alternate temperaments aren't coming back into the mainstream any time soon (see two main reasons, above). Hold a wake, attend a grief and loss seminar, but get over it. Treasure the memories, but don't live in the past.

But, if you are a theoretical musician beginning your journey of destiny, you've come to the right place. You aren't the first to embark on this journey. Many have gone before. Many more will follow. Fortunately, the tools for the analysis of temperaments have improved dramatically in the past few years. MY TEMPERAMENT ANALYSIS PROJECT The information I have to share is part of a personal research project I undertook many years ago. In this project I graphically represented three aspects of a number of historic temperaments. First, I graphically plotted the pitch deviations of many alternate temperaments against a 'standard' equally tempered scale. Then, I compare the fifth and major thirds above each semi-tone of the chromatic scale against a 'pure' fifth and major third. In your analysis, remember that not all music is chromatic to the degree that every 'wildly' tuned interval will be realized during the course of a piece. Also remember, minor thirds have their own characteristics, and they are not part of this analysis. Fourths and sixths are simply inversions of fifths and thirds, and their characteristics are mirrors of their counterparts. The two types of charts created for this analysis are described in detail here . Yes, this study is 'incomplete.' The reality is, I came, I heard, I learned, and I left 5 . My journey allowed me to learn and grow, and I have since let go of the driving urge to 'tune for perfection.' Should you wish to reproduce my results or expand on my analysis, I have included the raw data that fueled my study. A click on the title of each temperament will send you to the original graphs I produced in 1984. Learning to tune temperaments for experiential analysis is an art in itself. While there is much of value to be learned, developing competent tuning skills can take months of intense practice. Modern technology has made it possible to create tools to circumvent some of these roadblocks. Many MIDI instruments allow fine pitch adjustments that can be explicitly assigned to each note. Let me warn you in advance - purists frown on

any of these 'electronic' measures. Personally, I believe there is much to be gained and only very minor consequences from using these means. On the side of empirical analysis, even the simplest of spreadsheet programs can now be enlisted to graph comparisons between pure and tempered thirds, fifths, or whatever. While these tools don't give you the auditory sense of the alternate temperament, they are extremely valuable in comparative analysis and selecting scalar characteristics to suit a particular study subject. Speaking of technological advancements, the graphs reproduced and displayed in the links below were produced by a custom computer program written in FORTRAN on a VAX 11/750. They represent a great deal of time and effort. Today, an afternoon with Microsoft Excel will produce far superior results. Enjoy your studies. If you have comments, questions or suggestions, I'd love to hear them. E-mail Terry Blackburn ANALYSIS OF HISTORIC TEMPERAMENTS Van Bac Just Biez h (Barb en (Kla our) 262. is) 264.0 51 262. 0 76 275.0 277. 18 276. 0 87 297.0 294. 00 294. 0 30 316.8 311. 83 311. 0 46 330.0 329. 26 328. 0 70 352.0 350. 81 350. 0 37 371.2 369. 58 369. 5 18 396.0 392. 88 393. 0 70 412.5 415. 77 415. 0 30 440.0 440. 00 440. 0 00 475.2 467. 75 467. 0 18 495.0 492. 76 492. 0 26 528.0 525.

Kirnbe rger II c 262.37 Kirnbe Werckm Werckm Werckm Werckm rger III eister III eister IV eister V eister VI c 276.40 # 263.18 263.40 263.11 261.63 262.77 d 295.16 277.26 277.50 275.93 276.56 276.83 d 294.33 294.66 294.33 292.77 310.95 294.25 # 311.92 312.18 311.83 311.13 312.03 e 327.96 328.98 330.00 330.00 328.88 330.00 f 349.82 350.91 351.21 350.81 350.02 350.36 f 368.95 370.10 369.99 369.58 369.99 370.53 # 393.55 393.77 392.88 392.44 393.39 g 393.55 415.89 416.24 413.90 413.43 415.24 g 414.60 440.00 440.00 440.00 440.00 440.00 # 468.27 469.86 466.69 468.05 a 440.00 467.88 a 466.43 # b 491.93 c 524.73 493.47 526.36 495.00 526.81 492.77 526.21 493.33 523.25 495.00 525.54

03 525. 53

van Zwol le Pythagore an c c # d d # e f f # g g # a a # b c 260.7 4

Salin as (1/3) 264.0 0 273.8 6 294.5 5 316.8 0 328.6 4 353.4 6 366.6 7 394.3 6 409.1 0 440.0 0 473.2 4 490.9 2 528.0 0

Zarli no (2/7)

Rossi Rossi ((1/5) 2/9)

263.5 262.6 262.9 3 9 1 274.5 275.6 275.3 1 8 8 Rameau (syntonc 294.3 294.0 294.1 ic) 8 6 4 263.18 315.6 313.6 314.1 276.71 8 7 9 328.8 329.1 329.0 3 8 9 358.6 351.1 351.5 3 3 1 367.3 368.4 368.1 2 9 9 393.9 393.0 393.2 0 6 8 410.3 412.5 411.9 1 0 3 440.0 440.0 440.0 0 0 0 471.8 469.3 469.9 4 3 8 491.5 492.5 492.2 0 5 7 527.0 525.3 525.8 6 8 2 294.25 310.31 328.98 352.00 368.95 393.55 415.07 440.00 467.39 491.93 526.36

274.6 9 Meanto Silberma 260.74 ne (293.3 nn (-1/6) 1/4) 278.44 3 262.37 263.18 293.33 309.0 276.14 3 275.00 293.94 309.03 330.0 294.25 312.89 0 314.84 330.00 329.32 347.6 328.98 347.65 5 350.55 352.00 371.25 366.2 368.95 367.81 5 392.73 391.11 393.55 391.1 413.35 1 411.22 417.66 440.00 417.6 440.00 468.36 440.00 6 470.79 492.25 463.54 440.0 491.93 524.73 0 526.36 495.00 463.5 4 521.48 495.0 0 521.4 8

Footnotes: 1. For more depth into the history of tuning temperaments, see HISTORY OF TUNING AND TEMPERAMENT , an annotated outline by Howard Stoess
2.

'Pure', in the tuning sense, as opposed to 'perfect' in the harmonic sense.

3.

Dividing this frequency by 2 does not bring it down far enough to be in the same octave that we're trying to tune, which lies between 100hz and 200hz. Since this pitch needs to be brought down 2 octaves, we'll divide by 4 for simplicity, rather than by two twice.

4.

In comparison to all the art and effort that has gone into designing temperaments that minimize mis-tuning and preserve the beauty of perfectly tuned intervals, equal temperament is quite arbitrary. It is a purely mathematical solution to preserve the purity of the octave while spreading the comma equally throughout the scale. Each pitch of an equally tempered scale may be computed using the following formula P*2(x/12) where P is your starting pitch ('a' 440hz is today's standard) and x is the scale degree (half steps, starting with zero for the first or unison pitch and proceeding in whole number increments to 12 for the octave). So, to calculate the pitch for 'c' using a(440) as our starting location, we calculate 440 * 2(3/12) =523.2511306hz

Temperament and beating

The relationship between two pitches, called an interval, is the ratio of their absolute frequencies. Two different intervals are perceived to be the same when the pairs of pitches involved share the same frequency ratio. The easiest intervals to identify, and the easiest intervals to tune, are those that are just which have a simple wholenumber ratio. The term temperament refers to a tuning system which tempers the just intervals (usually the perfect fifth which has the ratio 3:2) in order to satisfy another mathematical property; in equal temperament, a fifth would be tempered by narrowing it slightly, achieved by flattening its upper pitch slightly, or raising its lower pitch slightly. A system of temperament can also be known as a set of bearings. Tempering an interval causes it to beat, which is a fluctuation in perceived sound intensity due to interference between close (but unequal) pitches. The rate of beating is equal to the frequency differences of any harmonics that are present for both pitches and that coincide or nearly coincide. It is heard clearly when the difference in pitches of these coincident harmonics is small (less than 20 hertz (Hz)). Because the actual tone of a vibrating piano string is not just one pitch, but a complex of tones arranged in a harmonic series, two strings which are close to a simple harmonic ratio such as a perfect fifth will beat at higher pitches (at their coincident harmonics), due to the difference in pitch between their coincident harmonics. In the case of an interval that is close to a perfect fifth, the strongest beating will be heard at 3 times the fundamental frequency of the lower string (an octave plus a perfect fifth up), and 2 times the frequency of the higher string (an octave up). Where these frequencies can be calculated, a temperament may be tuned aurally by timing the beatings of tempered intervals. One practical method of tuning the piano begins with tuning each note of the chromatic scale in the middle range of the piano. This is referred to as the temperament octave. A beginning pitch is tuned from an external reference, usually an A440 tuning fork, and the tuner successively adjusts each note's tempered intervallic relationships to other notes in the scale. During tuning it is common to assess fifths, fourths, thirds (both major and minor) and sixths (also major and minor), often in an ascending or descending pattern to easily hear whether an even progression of beat rates has been achieved. Once these strings are tuned, the tuner may proceed to tune all other pitches by comparing octave intervals against this temperament octave. This is convenient, because the octave is the easiest interval to tune (having the simplest ratio of 2:1) after the

unison (1:1). It is unusual to tune 2:1 octaves on a piano. Often 6:3; 4:2 or other ratios are used. The octaves are tuned beatless at one partial only. On some pianos the 6:3 and 4:2 may happen to both be beatless--but it is rare for this to happen. The followings table lists the beat frequencies between notes in an equal temperament octave. The top row indicates absolute frequencies of the pitches; usually only A440 is determined from an external reference. Every other number indicates the beat rate between any two tones (which share the row and column with that number) in the temperament octave. Begin by tuning one note to the other so that the beating disappears, temper that interval in the appropriate direction (either making the interval wider or narrower, see further below) until the desired beat rate is achieved. Slower beat rates can be carefully timed with a metronome, or other such device. For the thirds in the temperament octave, it is difficult to tune so many beats per second, but after setting the temperament and duplicating it one octave below, all of these beat frequencies are present at half the indicated rate in this lower octave, which are excellent for verification that the temperament is correct. One of the easiest tests of equal temperament is to play a succession of major thirds, each one a semitone higher than the last. If equal temperament has been achieved, the beat rate of these thirds should increase evenly over the range of the piano.

Equal temperament beatings (all figures in Hz) 261.6 277.1 293.6 311.1 329.6 349.2 369.9 391.9 415.3 440.0 466.1 493.8 523.2 26 83 65 27 28 28 94 95 05 00 64 83 51

0.000 00

14.11 20.76 1.182 85 48 43 13.32 19.59 1.116 61 94 07 12.57 18.49 1.053 81 93 43

1.771 16.48 23.74 65 10 44 1.672 15.55 22.41 21 60 17

1.578 14.68 21.15 36 29 38 1.489 13.85 19.96 77 88 65

11.87 17.46 .9943 22 10 04

16.48 .9384 10 98 .8858 24

1.406 13.08 18.84 16 10 59 1.327 12.34 17.78 24 68 82

Fundamental

1.252 11.65 16.78 74 39 98 1.182 10.99 15.84 43 98 75 10.38 14.95 24 80

Octave

Major sixth

Minor sixth

14.11 85

Perfect fifth

Perfect fourth Major third Minor third

This next table indicates the pitch at which the strongest beating should occur for useful intervals. As described above, when tuning a perfect fifth, for instance, the beating can be heard not at either of the fundamental pitches of the keys played, but rather an octave and fifth (perfect twelfth) above the lower of the two keys, which is the lowest pitch at which their harmonic series overlap. Once the beating can be heard, the tuner must temper the interval either wide or narrow from a tuning that has no beatings.

The pitch of beatings

Interval Octave

Approximate ratio Beating above the lower pitch 2:1 Octave

Tempering Exact

Major sixth Minor sixth

5:3 8:5

Two octaves and major third Three octaves

Wide Narrow

Perfect fifth

3:2

Octave and fifth

Slightly narrow

Perfect fourth Major third

4:3 5:4

Two octaves Two octaves and major third

Slightly wide Wide

Minor third Unison

6:5 1:1

Two octaves and fifth Unison

Narrow Exact

[edit] Stretched octaves

The tuning described by the above beating plan will give a good approximation of equal temperament across the range of the temperament octave. If it were extended further, however, the actual tuning of the instrument would become increasingly inaccurate. This is due to a factor known as inharmonicity, which is present in different amounts in all piano strings. Strings' harmonic series do not fall exactly into whole-number multiples of their fundamental frequency; instead each harmonic runs slightly sharp, the sharpness increasing as higher tones in the harmonic series are reached. This problem is mitigated by "stretching" the octaves as one tunes above (and to an extent below) the temperament region. When octaves are stretched, they are tuned, not to the lowest coincidental overtone (second partial) of the note below, but to a higher one (often the 4th partial). This widens all intervals equally, thereby maintaining intervallic and tonal consistency. All music, but classical literature in particular, requires this deviation from the theoretical equal temperament. It is because music is rarely played within a single octave. A pianist constantly plays notes spread over three and four octaves, so it is critical that the mid and upper range of the treble be stretched to conform to the inharmonic overtones of the lower registers. Since the stretch of octaves is perceived and not measured, the tuner has little sense for whether he is stretching "more" or "less". He merely tunes so that his single, double, and triple octaves are reasonably beatless, always ensuring that his M10s and especially M17s (octave doublings and triplings of the M3) are not "wild". The amount of stretching necessary to achieve this is a function of string scaling, a complex determination based on the strings tension, length, and diameter. Some pianosand some tunersachieve this better than others. It is commonly said that the octaves of a small piano need to be stretched more than those of a large piano. But from the concert tuner's perspective it is the opposite. Because smaller pianos' inharmonicity is so extreme, establishing octaves based on a triple octave makes the single octaves beat noticeably, and the wide, fast beating intervals in the upper trebleespecially M17sbeat wildly. Of a necessity the tuner limits his stretch to what he deems acceptable. Concert grands' lesser inharmonicity allows a complete string stretch without negatively affecting close octaves and other

intervals. So while it may be true that the smaller piano receives a greater stretch relative to the fundamental pitch, only the concert grands octaves can be fully widened so that triple octaves are beatless. This ability contributes mightily to the response, brilliance and "singing" quality that concert grands offer, and concert artists require. Stretched Fifths. A serendipitous benefit of stretching octaves is the correction of dissonance that equal temperament imparts to the perfect fifth. Without octave stretching, the slow, nearly imperceptible beating of fifths in the temperament region (about one beat every two seconds) would double each ascending octave. At the top of the keyboard, then, the theoretically (and ideally) pure fifth would be beating as many as eight times per second. Modern ears easily tolerate fast beating in non-just intervals (seconds and sevenths, thirds and sixths), but not in perfect octaves or fifths. Happily for pianists, the string stretch that accommodates inharmonicity on a concert grand also nearly exactly mitigates the accumulation of dissonance in the perfect fifth. Other factors, physical and psychoacoustic, affect the tuner's ability to achieve a temperament. Among physical factors are inharmonic effects due to soundboard resonance in the bass strings, poorly manufactured strings, or peculiarities that can cause "false beats" (false because they are unrelated to the manipulation of beats during tuning). The principal psychoacoustic factor is that the human ear tends to perceive the higher notes as being flat when compared to those in the midrange. Stretching the tuning to account for string inharmonicity is often not sufficient to overcome this phenomenon, so piano tuners may stretch the top octave or so of the piano even more.

Frequencies of the audible range on a twelve and eight equal tempered scale

Syntonic comma
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Syntonic comma on C

Play (helpinfo).

Just perfect fifth on D

Play (helpinfo). The perfect fifth above D (A+) is a syntonic comma

higher than the just major sixth (A).[1]

3-limit 9:8 major tone

Play (helpinfo).

5-limit 10:9 minor tone

Play (helpinfo).

In music theory, the syntonic comma, also known as the chromatic diesis, the comma of Didymus, the Ptolemaic comma, or the diatonic comma[2] is a small comma type interval between two musical notes, equal to the frequency ratio 81:80, or around 21.51

cents. Two notes that differ by this interval would sound different from each other even to untrained ears,[3] but would be close enough that they would be more likely interpreted as out-of-tune versions of the same note than as different notes. The comma is referred to as Didymus' because it is the amount by which Didymus corrected the Pythagorean major third[4] to a just major third (81:64 or 407.82 cents - 21.51 = 386.31 cents or 5:4). Composer Ben Johnston uses a "" as an accidental to indicate a note is lowered 21.51 cents, or a "+" to indicate a note is raised 21.51 cents.[1]

Contents
[hide]

1 Relationships 2 Syntonic comma in the history of music 3 See also 4 References 5 External links

[edit] Relationships
The syntonic comma is the interval between a just major third (5:4) and a Pythagorean ditone (81:64). Another way of describing the syntonic comma, as a combination of more commonly encountered intervals, is the difference between four justly tuned perfect fifths, and two octaves plus a justly tuned major third. A just perfect fifth has its notes in the frequency ratio 3:2, which is equal to 701.955 cents, and four of them are equal to 2807.82 cents (81:16). A just major third has its notes in the frequency ratio 5:4, which is equal to 386.31 cents, and one of them plus two octaves is equal to 2786.31 cents (5:1 or 80:16). The difference between these is 21.51 cents (81:80), a syntonic comma. Equally, it can be described as the difference between three justly tuned perfect fourths (64/27 or 1494.13 cents), and a justly tuned minor third (6/5) an octave higher (12/5 or 1515.64 cents). The difference of 21.51 cents has contemporary significance because on a piano keyboard, four fifths is equal to two octaves plus a major third. Starting from a C, both combinations of intervals will end up at E. The fact that using justly tuned intervals yields two slightly different notes is one of the reasons compromises have to be made when deciding which system of musical tuning to use for an instrument. Pythagorean tuning tunes the fifths as exact 3:2s, but uses the relatively complex ratio of 81:64 for major thirds. Quarter-comma meantone, on the other hand, uses exact 5:4s for major thirds, but flattens each of the fifths by a quarter of a syntonic comma. Other systems use different compromises. In just intonation, there are two kinds of major second, called major and minor tone. In 5-limit just intonation, they have a ratio of 9:8 and 10:9, and the ratio between them is the syntonic comma (81:80). Also, 27:16 5:3 = 81:80.[4]

Mathematically, by Strmer's theorem, 81:80 is the closest superparticular ratio possible with regular numbers as numerator and denominator. A superparticular ratio is one whose numerator is 1 greater than its denominator, such as 5:4, and a regular number is one whose prime factors are limited to 2, 3, and 5. Thus, although smaller intervals can be described within 5-limit tunings, they cannot be described as superparticular ratios. Another frequently encountered comma is the Pythagorean comma.

[edit] Syntonic comma in the history of music

The syntonic comma has a crucial role in the history of music. It is the amount by which some of the notes produced in Pythagorean tuning were flattened or sharpened to produce just minor and major thirds. In Pythagorean tuning, the only highly consonant intervals were the perfect fifth and its inversion, the perfect fourth. The Pythagorean major third (81:64) and minor third (32:27) were dissonant, and this prevented musicians from using triads and chords, forcing them for centuries to write music with relatively simple texture. In late Middle Ages, musicians realized that by slightly tempering the pitch of some notes, the Pythagorean thirds could be made consonant. For instance, if you decrease by a syntonic comma (81:80) the frequency of E, C-E (a major third), and E-G (a minor third) become just. Namely, C-E is flattened to a justly intonated ratio of

and at the same time E-G is sharpened to the just ratio of

The drawback is that the fifths A-E and E-B, by flattening E, become almost as dissonant as the Pythagorean wolf fifth. But the fifth C-G stays consonant, since only E has been flattened (C-E * E-G = 5/4 * 6/5 = 3/2), and can be used together with C-E to produce a C-major triad (C-E-G). These experiments eventually brought to the creation of a new tuning system, known as quarter-comma meantone, in which the number of major thirds was maximized, and most minor thirds were tuned to a ratio which was very close to the just 6:5. This result was obtained by flattening each fifth by a quarter of a syntonic comma, an amount which was considered negligible, and permitted the full development of music with complex texture, such as polyphonic music, or melody with instrumental accompaniment. Since then, other tuning systems were developed, and the syntonic comma was used as a reference value to temper the perfect fifths in an entire family of them. Namely, in the family belonging to the syntonic temperament continuum, including meantone temperaments.

[edit] See also

F+ (pitch) Holdrian comma

[edit] References
1. ^ a b John Fonville. "Ben Johnston's Extended Just Intonation- A Guide for Interpreters", p.109, Perspectives of New Music, Vol. 29, No. 2 (Summer, 1991), pp. 106-137. and Johnston, Ben and Gilmore, Bob (2006). "A Notation System for Extended Just Intonation" (2003), "Maximum clarity" and Other Writings on Music, p.78. ISBN 9780252030987. 2. ^ Johnston B. (2006). "Maximum Clarity" and Other Writings on Music, edited by Bob Gilmore. Urbana: University of Illinois Press. ISBN 0252030982. 3. ^ "Sol-Fa - The Key to Temperament", BBC. 4. ^ a b Llewelyn Southworth Lloyd (1937). Music and Sound, p.12. ISBN 0836951883.

[edit] External links

Indiana University School of Music: Piano Repair Shop: Harpsichord Tuning, Repair, and Temperaments: "What is the Syntonic Comma?" Tonalsoft: "Syntonic-comma" [hide]v d eIntervals (list)

Numbers in brackets are the number of semitones in the interval. Fractional semitones are approximate. unison (0) fourth (5) fifth (7) octave (12) fifteenth (24) second (2) third (4) sixth (9) seventh (11) second (1) third (3) sixth (8) seventh (10) unison (1) second (3) third (5) fourth (6) fifth (8) sixth (10) seventh (12) octave (13) unison (-1) second (0) third (2) fourth (4) fifth (6) sixth (7) seventh (9) octave (11) ninth (13 or 14) tenth (15 or 16) eleventh (17)

Perfect

Major

Minor Twelvesemitone (Western) Augmented

Diminished

Compound

thirteenth (18 or 19) second (2) third (4) sixth (9) seventh (11) second (1) third (3) sixth (8) seventh (10) second () third (2) sixth (7) seventh (9) chromatic semitone () diatonic semitone (1) whole tone (2) subminor third (2) supermajor third (4) harmonic (subminor) seventh (9) Microtone Comma Pseudooctave Pythagorean interval

Supermajor

Neutral

Other systems

Subminor

7-limit

Groups

Commas Other intervals

Pythagorean comma Pythagorean apotome Pythagorean limma Diesis Septimal diesis Septimal comma Syntonic comma Schisma Diaschisma Major limma Ragisma Breedsma Kleisma Septimal kleisma Septimal semicomma Orwell comma Semicomma Septimal sixth-tone Septimal quarter tone Septimal thirdtone
Cent Millioctave Savart Quarter tone Wolf Ditone Semiditone Holdrian comma Secor

Measurement

Others