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9 Scalesandtemperament

This document discusses different musical scales and temperaments. It describes the Pythagorean scale, meantone temperament, just intonation scale, and equal temperament scale. It explains problems with the Pythagorean and just intonation scales in practical use. Well temperament and other meantone temperaments are also summarized that allow music to be played in multiple keys without sounding out of tune. The relationships between frequencies, ratios, and cents in different scales are compared.

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Patrick Köhler
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96 views24 pages

9 Scalesandtemperament

This document discusses different musical scales and temperaments. It describes the Pythagorean scale, meantone temperament, just intonation scale, and equal temperament scale. It explains problems with the Pythagorean and just intonation scales in practical use. Well temperament and other meantone temperaments are also summarized that allow music to be played in multiple keys without sounding out of tune. The relationships between frequencies, ratios, and cents in different scales are compared.

Uploaded by

Patrick Köhler
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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MUSICAL ACOUSTICS

MUSICAL SCALES AND


TEMPERAMENT

The Science of Sound, Chapter 9


MUSICAL SCALES AND TEMPERAMENT

SCALE – A SUCCESSION OF NOTES IN ASCENDING ORDER


(e.g., PYTHAGOREAN, JUST, MEANTONE, EQUAL
TEMPERAMENT)
TUNING – ADJUSTMENT OF PITCH TO CORRESPOND TO AN
ACCEPTED NORM
TEMPERAMENT – A SYSTEM OF TUNING IN WHICH
INTERVALS DEVIATE FROM ACOUSTICALLY PURE
(PYTHAGOREAN)
INTONATION – DEGREE OF ACCURACY WITH WHICH
PITCHES ARE PRODUCED
THE PYTHAGOREAN SCALE
CREATES THE GREATEST NUMBER OF
PERFECT FOURTHS AND FIFTHS
ALL NOTES CAN
CIRCLE OF FIFTHS BE REACHED BY
GOING UP (OR
DOWN)
12 FIFTHS OR
12 FOURTHS

(3/2)12 = 129.7
BUT
27 = 128,
SO
12 PERFECT
FIFTHS IS
7¼ OCTAVES
FREQUENCY RATIOS OF NOTES IN THE PYTHAGOREAN SCALE
MEANTONE TEMPERAMENT

NUMEROUS ALTERATIONS TO THE PYTHAGOREAN


SCALE HAVE BEEN DEVELOPED

NEARLY ALL OF THEM FLAT THE THIRD

QUARTER – COMMA MEANTONE


PYTHAGOREAN C D E F G A B
C

MEANTONE C D-½ E-  F+¼  G-¼  A-¾ B-5/4


C
 = SYNTONIC COMMA, RATIO OF 1.0125
ONE SIZE OF WHOLE TONE √ 5/4 = 1.118
SCALE OF JUST INTONATION
BASED ON THE MAJOR TRIAD (e.g., C: E: G)
NOTES HAVE RATIOS 4: 5: 6 FOR MAXIMUM CONSONANCE
MOST CONSONANT INTERVALS (SEE CHAPTER 8)
2 : 1 OCTAVE
3 : 2 PERFECT FIFTH
4 : 3 PERFECT FOURTH
5 : 3 MAJOR SIXTH
5 : 4 MAJOR THIRD
8 : 5 MINOR SIXTH
6 : 5 MINOR THIRD

THREE MAJOR TRIADS IN A MAJOR SCALE:


TONIC, DOMINANT, SUB-DOMINANT (I, V, IV)
NOTE THAT E IS A MAJOR THIRD ABOVE C, F IS A PERFECT FOURTH ABOVE C,
AND G IS A PERFECT FIFTH ABOVE C. NEXT CONSIDER THE INTERVALS
BETWEEN SUCCESSIVE NOTES:
D TO E IS 5/4 ÷ 9/8 = 10/9; E to F is 4/3 ÷ 5/4 = 16/15; G TO F IS 3/2 ÷ 4/3 =9/8, AND
SO ON. IN FACT, WE OBSERVE THAT THERE ARE ONLY THREE DIFFERENT
INTERVALS AS YOU WILL SEE ON THE NEXT PAGE, AND THEY HAVE RATIOS
9/8, 10/9, AND 16/15. THE INTERVAL CORRESPONDING TO 9/8 IS CALLED A
MAJOR WHOLE TONE, THE INTERVAL 10/9 A MINOR WHOLE TONE.
PROBLEMS WITH THE JUST SCALE:

•SOME FIFTHS ARE IMPERFECT (e.g., D:A = 1.48)


•SOME FOURTHS ARE IMPERFECT
•Ab IS HIGHER THAN G#
•THE JUST SCALE HAS NEVER BEEN OF MUCH PRACTICAL USE

FREQUENCY RATIOS OF NOTES IN THE JUST DIATONIC SCALE


NUMBERS IN THE BOTTOM ROW GIVE INTERVALS BETWEEN TWO
ADJACENT NOTES.
SCALE OF EQUAL TEMPERAMENT
DIVIDES THE OCTAVE INTO 12 EQUAL SEMITONES
THEREFORE, FREQUENCY RATIOS ARE 21/12 = 1.05946

WHOLE TONE IS (1.05946)2 = 1.12246


A FIFTH IS (1.05946)7 = 1.48
A FOURTH IS (1.05946)5 = 1.335
A MAJOR THIRD IS (1.05946)4 = 1.260
A MINOR THIRD IS (1.05946)3 = 1.189

CONVERSION FROM INTERVAL IN CENTS I(¢) TO FREQUENCY


RATIO R:

R= 10 (I log2/1200)
I (¢) = 1200 log R/log 2 = 3986 log R

OCTAVE = 1200¢ (when R=2, I(¢)=1200)


COMPARISON OF PYTHAGOREAN, JUST, AND EQUAL
TEMPERAMENT SCALES ON A SCALE OF CENTS
MUSICAL INTERVALS IN VARIOUS TUNINGS
FREQUENCIES
OF NOTES IN
TEMPERED
SCALE
NOTES OF SCALES BASED ON C
COMPARISON OF SCALES

CIRCLES OF FIFTHS

24 CENTS IS SOMETIMES CALLED THE PYTHAGOREAN COMMA


(R=1.512 / 27 = 129.7/128)
OTHER MEANTONE TEMPERAMENTS
QUARTER-COMMA IS ONLY TRUE MEANTONE TERMPERAMENT
BECAUSE IT IS DERIVED FROM THE MEAN OF MAJOR
AND MINOR TONES HAVING FREQUENCY RATIOS OF 5/4 AND
4/3
OTHER MEANTONE TEMPERAMENTS ARE POSSIBLE, HOWEVER

1/3 – COMMA MEANTONE (SALINAS):

NOTE: C D E F G A B C
CENTS: 0 190 379 505 695 884 1074 1200

REGULAR TEMPERAMENT: WHOLE TONES AND FIFTHS HAVE


FIXED VALUES
CIRCULAR TEMPERAMENT: CIRCLE OF FIFTHS CLOSES (NO GAP OR
OVERLAP)
EXAMPLE: WERKMEISTER III: PROBABLY USED BY BACH FOR HIS 24

PRELUDES AND FUGUES FOR THE WELL-TEMPERED CLAVIER


WELL TEMPERAMENT
WELL TEMPERED MEANS THAT THE TWELVE NOTES PER OCTAVE ARE
TUNED IN SUCH A WAY THAT IT IS POSSIBLE TO PLAY MUSIC IN MOST
MAJOR OR MINOR KEYS, AND IT WILL NOT SOUND PERCEPTIBLY OUT OF
TUNE.
EACH KEY HAS A SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT SCALE, HOWEVER, AND THUS IS
SAID TO HAVE A “CHARACTERISTIC” SOUND

THERE ARE MANY WELL TEMPERAMENT SCHEMES, SOME NEARER


MEANTONE TEMPERAMENT, OTHERS NEARER EQUAL TEMPERAMENT
EXAMPLES: WERCKMEISTER I, II, III TEMPERAMENTS
FRENCH TEMPERAMENT ORDINAIRE
NEIDHARDT
KIRNBERGER
VALLOTTI,
OTHER MEANTONE TEMPERAMENTS

N – NOTE SCALES OF EQUAL TEMPERAMENT

N = 15, 19, 31, 22, AND 53 HAVE BEEN USED

BLACKWOOD: N = 15, 19
RAPOPORT: N = 31
HUYGENS ORGAN: N = 31

www.xs4all.nl/~huygenif/instrum.html
RATIOS AND CENTS

JUST INTONATION WORKS WELL FOR RENAISSANCE MUSIC


BUT NOT FOR BAROQUE MUSIC

BLACKWOOD: SINGERS MAKE ADJUSTMENT DURING TONE

HUGGHAUS 31 TONE IS ALMOST THE SAME AS EXTENDED


MEANTIME

ET = 1/11 COMMA MEANTONE


INTONATION

SKILLED MUSICIANS SHOW CONSIDERABLE VARIATION IN


INTONATION (FREQUENTLY LARGER THAN DIFFERENCES
BETWEEN THE VARIOUS TUNINGS

DEVIATIONS FROM EQUAL TEMPERAMENT ARE GENERALLY


IN THE DIRECTION OF PYTHAGOREAN INTERVALS

MANY PERFORMERS PREFER STRETCHED INTERVALS

CHORAL SINGERS OFTEN RAISE THE THIRD IN A MAJOR


CHORD
RATIOS AND CENTS
THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF JUST TUNING IN THE RENAISSANCE
SELECT PYTHAGOREAN AND OTHER RATIOS
BOHLEN-PIERCE SCALE
BASED ON A 3:5:7:9 TETRACHORD
DIVIDES A MUSICAL TWELTH (3:1 RATIO) OR “TRITAVE” INTO 13
STEPS OR SEMITONES EACH HAVING A RATIO 31/13

HEINZ
BOHLEN JOHN PIERCE
FREQUENCY RATIOS FOR BOHLEN-PIERCE SCALE
DIAGRAM OF BP
SCALE AND THE
MAJOR AND
MINOR CHORDS
THAT CAN BE
DERIVED FROM
THIS SCALE

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