Meantone Temperament

Meantone temperament is a musical temperament, which is a system of musical tuning. 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 27/12:1 used in 12 equal temperament. The meantone temperament:

  • generates all non-octave intervals from a stack of tempered perfect fifths; and
  • by choosing an appropriate size for major and minor thirds, tempers the syntonic comma to unison.

Quarter-comma meantone is the best known type of meantone temperament, and the term meantone temperament is often used to refer to it specifically.

Read more about Meantone Temperament:  Meantone Temperaments, Wolf Intervals, Extended Meantones, Use of Meantone Temperament, New Uses of Meantone Tunings

Famous quotes containing the word temperament:

    “Style [is] the hallmark of a temperament stamped on the material in hand.”
    —André Maurois (1885–1967)