Meantone

temperament

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 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 3:2.

Comparison between Pythagorean tuning (blue),

equal-tempered (black), quarter-comma meantone
(red) and third-comma meantone (green). For each,
the common origin is arbitrarily chosen as C. The
degrees are arranged in the order of the cycle of fifths;
as in each of these tunings all fifths are of the same
size the tunings appear as straight lines the slope
size, the tunings appear as straight lines, the slope
indicating the relative tempering with respect to
Pythagorean, which has pure fifths (3:2, 702 cents).
The Pythagorean A♭ (at the left) is at 792 cents, G♯ (at
the right) at 816 cents; the difference is the
Pythagorean comma. Equal temperament by
definition is such that A♭ and G♯ are at the same level.

Quarter-comma meantone produces the "just" major

third (5:4, 386 cents, a syntonic comma lower than the
Pythagorean one of 408 cents). Third-comma
meantone produces the "just" minor third (6:5, 316
cents, a syntonic comma higher than the Pythagorean
one of 294 cents). In both these meantone
temperaments, the enharmony, here the difference
between A♭ and G♯, is much larger than in
Pythagorean, and with the flat degree higher than the
sharp one.
Equal temperament, obtained by making
all semitones the same size, each equal to
one-twelfth of an octave (with ratio the
12
12th root of 2 to one ( √2:1), narrows the
fifths by about 2 cents or 1/12 of a
Pythagorean comma, and produces thirds
that are only slightly better than in
Pythagorean tuning. Equal temperament is
roughly the same as 1/11 comma
meantone tuning.

Quarter-comma meantone, which tempers

the fifths by 1/4 comma, is the best known
type of meantone temperament, and the
term meantone temperament is often used
to refer to it specifically. Four ascending
fifths (as C–G–D–A–E) tempered by 1/4
comma produce a perfect major third (C–
E), one syntonic comma narrower than the
Pythagorean third that would result from
four perfect fifths. Quarter-comma
meantone has been practiced from the
early 16th century to the end of the 19th.

In third-comma meantone, the fifths are

tempered by 1/3 comma, and three
descending fifths (such as A–D–G–C)
produce a perfect minor third (A–C) one
syntonic comma wider than the
Pythagorean one that would result from
three perfect fifths. Third-comma
meantone can be approximated by a
division of the octave in 19 equal steps.

The tone as a mean

The name "meantone temperament"
derives from the fact that all such
temperaments have only one size of the
tone, while just intonation produces a
major tone and a minor one, differing by a
syntonic comma. In any regular system
(i.e. with all fifths but one of the same
size)[1] the tone (as C–D) is reached after
two fifths (as C–G–D), while the major
third is reached after four fifths: the tone
therefore is exactly half the major third.
This is one sense in which the tone is a
mean.

In the case of quarter-comma meantone,

in addition, where the major third is made
narrower by a syntonic comma, the tone is
also half a comma narrower than the
major tone of just intonation, or half a
comma wider than the minor tone: this is
another sense in which the tone in quarter-
tone temperament may be considered a
mean tone, and it explains why quarter-
comma meantone is often considered the
meantone temperament properly
speaking.[2]

Meantone temperaments
Figure 1: The linear temperament continuum (Milne
2007). It covers the range of linear temperaments that
can also be used as generators for Regular diatonic
tunings. In other words, these are linear
temperaments that include subsets with the familiar
pattern of intervals of the diatonic scale. Notable
meantone tunings are labeled, at center-left, with
names of the form "n⁄d-comma".
"Meantone" can receive the following
equivalent definitions:

The meantone is the geometric mean

between the major whole tone (9:8 in
just intonation) and the minor whole
tone (10:9 in just intonation).
The meantone is the mean of its major
third (for instance the square root of 5:4
in quarter-comma meantone).

The family of meantone temperaments

share the common characteristic that they
form a stack of identical fifths, the tone
being the result of two fifths minus one
octave, the major third of four fifths minus
two octaves. Meantone temperaments are
often described by the fraction of the
syntonic comma by which the fifths are
tempered: quarter-comma meantone, the
most common type, tempers the fifths by
1⁄ of a syntonic comma, with the result
4
that four fifths produce a just major third, a
syntonic comma lower than a Pythagorean
major third; third-comma meantone
tempers by 1⁄3 of a syntonic comma, three
fifths producing a just major sixth, a
syntonic comma lower than a Pythagorean
one.
A meantone temperament is a linear
temperament,[3] distinguished by the width
of its generator (often measured in cents),
as shown in the central column of Figure
1. Historically notable meantone
temperaments, discussed below, occupy a
narrow portion of this tuning continuum,
with fifths ranging from approximately 695
to 699 cents.

While the term meantone temperament

refers primarily to the tempering of 5-limit
musical intervals, temperaments that
approximate 5-limit intervals well, such as
Quarter-comma meantone, can also
approximate 7-limit intervals well, defining
septimal meantone temperament. In
Figure 1, the valid tuning ranges of 5-limit,
7-limit, and 11-limit tunings are shown, and
can be seen to include many notable
meantone tunings.

Meantone temperaments can be specified

in various ways: by what fraction
(logarithmically) of a syntonic comma the
fifth is being flattened (as above), what
equal temperament has the meantone fifth
in question, the width of the tempered
perfect fifth in cents, or the ratio of the
whole tone to the diatonic semitone. This
last ratio was termed "R" by American
composer, pianist and theoretician Easley
Blackwood, but in effect has been in use
for much longer than that. It is useful
because it gives us an idea of the melodic
qualities of the tuning, and because if R is
a rational number ND , so is 3R + 1
5R + 2 or 3N + D
5N + 2D ,
which is the size of fifth in terms of
logarithms base 2, and which immediately
tells us what division of the octave we will
have. If we multiply by 1200, we have the
size of fifth in cents.
In these terms, some historically notable
meantone tunings are listed below. The
second and fourth column are
corresponding approximations to the first
column. The third column shows how
close the second column's approximation
is to the actual size of the fifth interval in
the given meantone tuning from the first
column.
Meantone tunings
Approximate size of the fifth in Ratio
Fraction of a (syntonic) comma Error (in cents)
octaves R
1
⁄315 (nearly Pythagorean 31
⁄53 +6.55227×10−5 9:4
tuning)
1
⁄11 (1⁄12 Pythagorean comma) 7
⁄12 +1.16371×10−4 2:1
1 32
⁄6 ⁄55 -1.88801×10−1 9:5
1⁄ 25⁄ +2.06757×10−2 7:4
5 43
1 18
⁄4 ⁄31 +1.95765×10−1 5:3
2 29
⁄7 ⁄50 +1.89653×10−1 8:5
1⁄ 11⁄ -4.93956×10−2 3:2
3 19
1 15
⁄2 ⁄26 +1.10584×100 4:3

Equal temperaments

Neither the just fifth nor the quarter-

comma meantone fifth is a rational
fraction of the octave, but several tunings
exist which approximate the fifth by such
an interval; these are a subset of the equal
temperaments ("N-ET"), in which the
octave is divided into some number (N) of
equally wide intervals.

Equal temperaments useful as meantone

tunings include (in order of increasing
generator width) 19-ET, 50-ET, 31-ET, 43-
ET, and 55-ET. The farther the tuning gets
away from quarter-comma meantone,
however, the less related[4] the tuning is to
harmonic timbres, which can be overcome
by tempering the partials to match the
tuning – which is possible, however, only
on electronic synthetizers.[5]
Comparison between 1/4-comma meantone and 31-ET (values in cents, rounded to 2
decimals)
  C C♯ D E♭ E F F♯ G G♯ A B♭

1/4
0,00 76,05 193,16 310,26 386,31 503,42 579,47 696,58 772,63 889,74 1006,84 10
comma:

31-ET: 0,00 77,42 193,54 309,68 387,10 503,23 580,65 696,77 774,19 890,32 1006,45 10

Wolf intervals
A whole number of just perfect fifths will
never add up to a whole number of
octaves, because they are
incommensurable (see Fundamental
theorem of arithmetic). If a stacked-up
whole number of perfect fifths is to close
with the octave, then one of the intervals
that is enharmonically equivalent to a fifth
must have a different width than the other
fifths. For example, to make a 12-note
chromatic scale in Pythagorean tuning
close at the octave, one of the fifth
intervals must be lowered ("out-of-tune")
by the Pythagorean comma; this altered
fifth is called a wolf fifth because it
sounds similar to a fifth in its interval size
and seems like an out-of-tune fifth.
However, it really is a Pythagorean
diminished sixth (or an augmented third
instead of a fourth), say the interval
between C and E♯.
Wolf intervals are an artifact of keyboard
design.[6] This can be shown most easily
using an isomorphic keyboard, such as
that shown in Figure 2.

Fig. 2: The Wicki isomorphic keyboard, invented by

Kaspar Wicki in 1896.

On an isomorphic keyboard, any given

musical interval has the same shape
wherever it appears, except at the edges.
Here's an example. On the keyboard
shown in Figure 2, from any given note, the
note that's a perfect fifth higher is always
up-and-rightwardly adjacent to the given
note. There are no wolf intervals within the
note-span of this keyboard. The problem is
at the edge, on the note E♯. The note that's
a perfect fifth higher than E♯ is B♯, which
is not included on the keyboard shown
(although it could be included in a larger
keyboard, placed just to the right of A♯,
hence maintaining the keyboard's
consistent note-pattern). Because there is
no B♯ button, when playing an E♯ power
chord, one must choose some other note,
such as C, to play instead of the missing
B♯.

Even edge conditions produce wolf

intervals only if the isomorphic keyboard
has fewer buttons per octave than the
tuning has enharmonically-distinct notes
(Milne, 2007). For example, the isomorphic
keyboard in Figure 2 has 19 buttons per
octave, so the above-cited edge-condition,
from E♯ to C, is not a wolf interval in 12-ET,
17-ET, or 19-ET; however, it is a wolf
interval 26-ET, 31-ET, and 50-ET. In these
latter tunings, using electronic
transposition could keep the current key's
notes on the isomorphic keyboard's white
buttons, such that these wolf intervals
would very rarely be encountered in tonal
music, despite modulation to exotic
keys.[7]

Isomorphic keyboards expose the

invariant properties of the meantone
tunings of the syntonic temperament
isomorphically (that is, for example, by
exposing a given interval with a single
consistent inter-button shape in every
octave, key, and tuning) because both the
isomorphic keyboard and temperament
are two-dimensional (i.e., rank-2) entities
(Milne, 2007). One-dimensional N-key
keyboards can expose accurately the
invariant properties of only a single one-
dimensional N-ET tuning; hence, the one-
dimensional piano-style keyboard, with 12
keys per octave, can expose the invariant
properties of only one tuning: 12-ET.

When the perfect fifth is exactly 700 cents

wide (that is, tempered by approximately
1⁄ of a syntonic comma, or exactly 1⁄12
11
of a Pythagorean comma) then the tuning
is identical to the familiar 12-tone equal
temperament. This appears in the table
above when R = 2:1.

Because of the compromises (and wolf

intervals) forced on meantone tunings by
the one-dimensional piano-style keyboard,
well temperaments and eventually equal
temperament became more popular.

Using standard interval names, twelve

fifths equal six octaves plus one
augmented seventh; seven octaves are
equal to eleven fifths plus one diminished
sixth. Given this, three "minor thirds" are
actually augmented seconds (for example,
B♭ to C♯), and four "major thirds" are
actually diminished fourths (for example,
B to E♭). Several triads (like B–E♭–F♯ and
B♭–C♯–F) contain both these intervals and
have normal fifths.

Extended meantones
All meantone tunings fall into the valid
tuning range of the syntonic temperament,
so all meantone tunings are syntonic
tunings. All syntonic tunings, including the
meantones, have a conceptually infinite
number of notes in each octave, that is,
seven natural notes, seven sharp notes (F♯
to B♯), seven flat notes (B♭ to F♭), double
sharp notes, double flat notes, triple
sharps and flats, and so on. In fact, double
sharps and flats are uncommon, but still
needed; triple sharps and flats are almost
never seen. In any syntonic tuning that
happens to divide the octave into a small
number of equally wide smallest intervals
(such as 12, 19, or 31), this infinity of notes
still exists, although some notes will be
equivalent. For example, in 19-ET, E♯ and
F♭ are the same pitch.
Many musical instruments are capable of
very fine distinctions of pitch, such as the
human voice, the trombone, unfretted
strings such as the violin, and lutes with
tied frets. These instruments are well-
suited to the use of meantone tunings.

On the other hand, the piano keyboard has

only twelve physical note-controlling
devices per octave, making it poorly suited
to any tunings other than 12-ET. Almost all
of the historic problems with the
meantone temperament are caused by the
attempt to map meantone's infinite
number of notes per octave to a finite
number of piano keys. This is, for example,
the source of the "wolf fifth" discussed
above. When choosing which notes to
map to the piano's black keys, it is
convenient to choose those notes that are
common to a small number of closely
related keys, but this will only work up to
the edge of the octave; when wrapping
around to the next octave, one must use a
"wolf fifth" that is not as wide as the
others, as discussed above.
The existence of the "wolf fifth" is one of
the reasons why, before the introduction of
well temperament, instrumental music
generally stayed in a number of "safe"
tonalities that did not involve the "wolf
fifth" (which was generally put between G♯
and E♭).

Throughout the Renaissance and

Enlightenment, theorists as varied as
Nicola Vicentino, Francisco de Salinas,
Fabio Colonna, Marin Mersenne,
Christiaan Huygens, and Isaac Newton
advocated the use of meantone tunings
that were extended beyond the keyboard's
twelve notes,[8][9][10] and hence have come
to be called "extended" meantone tunings.
These efforts required a concomitant
extension of keyboard instruments to offer
means of controlling more than 12 notes
per octave, including Vincento's
Archicembalo (shown in Figure 3),
Mersenne's 19-ET harpsichord, Colonna's
31-ET sambuca, and Huygens' 31-ET
harpsichord.[11] Other instruments
extended the keyboard by only a few
notes. Some period harpsichords and
organs have split D♯/E♭ keys, such that
both E major/C♯ minor (4 sharps) and E♭
major/C minor (3 flats) can be played
without wolf fifths. Many of those
instruments also have split G♯/A♭ keys,
and a few have all the five accidental keys
split.

All of these alternative instruments were

"complicated" and "cumbersome" (Isacoff,
2003), due to (a) not being isomorphic,
and (b) not having the ability to transpose
electronically, which can significantly
reduce the number of note-controlling
buttons needed on an isomorphic
keyboard (Plamondon, 2009). Both of
these criticisms could be addressed by
electronic isomorphic keyboard
instruments (such as the open-source
hardware jammer keyboard), which could
be simpler, less cumbersome, and more
expressive than existing keyboard
instruments.[12]

Use of meantone
temperament
References to tuning systems that could
possibly refer to meantone were published
as early as 1496 (Gafori), and Aron (1523)
is unmistakably referring to meantone.
However, the first mathematically precise
Meantone tuning descriptions are found in
late 16th century treatises by Francisco de
Salinas and Gioseffo Zarlino. Salinas (in
De musica libra septem, 1577) describes
three different mean tone temperaments:
the third-comma system, the two-seventh-
comma system, and the quarter-comma
system. He is the likely inventor of the
third-comma system, while he and Zarlino
both wrote on the two-seventh-comma
system, apparently independently.
Lodovico Fogliano mentions the quarter-
comma system, but offers no discussion
of it.

In the past, meantone temperaments were

sometimes used or referred to under other
names or descriptions. For example, in
1691 Christiaan Huygens wrote his "Lettre
touchant le cycle harmonique" ("Letter
concerning the harmonic cycle") with the
purpose of introducing what he believed to
be a new division of the octave. In this
letter Huygens referred several times, in a
comparative way, to a conventional tuning
arrangement, which he indicated variously
as "temperament ordinaire", or "the one
that everyone uses". But Huygens'
description of this conventional
arrangement was quite precise, and is
clearly identifiable with what is now
classified as (quarter-comma) meantone
temperament.[13]

Although meantone is best known as a

tuning environment associated with earlier
music of the Renaissance and Baroque,
there is evidence of continuous usage of
meantone as a keyboard temperament
well into the middle of the 19th century.[14]
Meantone temperament has had
considerable revival for early music
performance in the late 20th century and
in newly composed works specifically
demanding meantone by composers
including John Adams, György Ligeti and
Douglas Leedy.

New uses of meantone

tunings
Meantone is one of many possible tuning
effects found in Dynamic Tonality
(Plamondon, 2009).
See also
Equal temperament
Just intonation
Interval
Mathematics of musical scales
Pythagorean tuning
Semitone
Well temperament
Regular temperament
List of meantone intervals

References
1. J. Murray Barbour, Tuning and
 Temperament. A Historical Survey.
East Lansing, 1951, p. xi.
2. Barbour 1951, p. x and pp. 25-44.
3. Milne, Andrew; Sethares, W.A.;
Plamondon, J. (December 2007).
"Invariant Fingerings Across a Tuning
Continuum" . Computer Music Journal.
31 (4): 15–32.
doi:10.1162/comj.2007.31.4.15 .
4. Sethares, William (September 1993).
"Local consonance and the
relationship between timbre and
scale" . Journal of the Acoustical
Society of America. 94 (3): 1218–
1228. doi:10.1121/1.408175 .
5. Sethares, William; Milne, A.; Tiedje, S.;
Prechtl, A.; Plamondon, J. (2009).
"Spectral Tools for Dynamic Tonality
and Audio Morphing" . Computer
Music Journal. 33 (2): 71–84.
CiteSeerX 10.1.1.159.838 .
doi:10.1162/comj.2009.33.2.71 .
Retrieved 2009-09-20.
6. Milne, Andrew; Sethares, W.A.;
Plamondon, J. (March 2008). "Tuning
Continua and Keyboard Layouts" .
Journal of Mathematics and Music. 2
(1): 1–19. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.158.6927 .
doi:10.1080/17459730701828677 .
Retrieved 2009-09-20.
7. Plamondon, Jim; Milne, A.; Sethares,
W.A. (2009). "Dynamic Tonality:
Extending the Framework of Tonality
into the 21st Century" (PDF).
Proceedings of the Annual Conference
of the South Central Chapter of the
College Music Society.
 8. Barbour, J.M., 2004, Tuning and
Temperament: A Historical Survey .
9. Duffin, R.W., 2006, How Equal
Temperament Ruined Harmony (and
Why You Should Care) .
10. Isacoff, Stuart, 2003, Temperament:
How Music Became a Battleground for
the Great Minds of Western
Civilization
11. Stembridge, Christopher (1993). "The
Cimbalo Cromatico and Other Italian
Keyboard Instruments with Nineteen
or More Divisions to the Octave".
Performance Practice Review. vi (1):
33–59.
doi:10.5642/perfpr.199306.01.02 .
12. Paine, G.; Stevenson, I.; Pearce, A.
(2007). "The Thummer Mapping
Project (ThuMP)" (PDF). Proceedings
of the 7th International Conference on
New Interfaces for Musical Expression
(NIME07): 70–77.
13. (See references cited in article
'Temperament Ordinaire'.)
14. George Grove wrote as late as 1890:
"The mode of tuning which prevailed
before the introduction of equal
temperament, is called the Meantone
System. It has hardly yet died out in
England, for it may still be heard on a
few organs in country churches.
According to Don B. Yñiguez, organist
of Seville Cathedral, the meantone
system is generally maintained on
Spanish organs, even at the present
day." A Dictionary of Music and
Musicians, Macmillan, London, vol. IV,
1890 [1st edition], p. 72.
External links
An explanation of constructing Quarter
Comma Meantone Tuning
LucyTuning - specific meantone derived
from pi, and the writings of John
Harrison
How to tune quarter-comma meantone
Archive index at the Wayback Machine
Music fragments played in different
temperaments - mp3s not archived
Kyle Gann's Introduction to Historical
Tunings has an explanation of how the
meantone temperament works.
 Willem Kroesbergen, Andrew
cruickshank: Meantone, unequal and
equal temperament during J.S. Bach's
life
https://www.academia.edu/9189419/Bl
ankenburg_Equal_or_unequal_temperam
ent_during_J.S._Bach_s_life

Retrieved from
"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?
title=Meantone_temperament&oldid=906279839"

Last edited 5 months ago by Hucbald.SaintAmand

Content is available under CC BY-SA 3.0 unless
otherwise noted.