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:
“The artistic temperament is a disease that affects amateurs.... Artists of a large and wholesome vitality get rid of their art easily, as they breathe easily or perspire easily. But in artists of less force, the thing becomes a pressure, and produces a definite pain, which is called the artistic temperament.”
—Gilbert Keith Chesterton (1874–1936)