HI all, I came across this and found it most interesting! Apparently ET was alive and well in 1482!!! The method that western music has adopted is to use the system of equal temperament (also known as even temperament) whereby the ratio of the frequencies of any two adjacent `notes' (i.e. semitones) is constant, with the only interval that is acoustically correct being the octave. It is not clear when this was originally developed. A much-discussed example is Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier, which consists of two series of twenty-four preludes and fugues in each of the twelve major and twelve minor keys. There is an old misconception that Bach used equal temperament on his own instruments, and wrote the Well-Tempered Clavier to popularize that system. However, most scholars today believe Bach used a well-tempered system. See Vol. 8, p. 379 of Grove's Dictionary. Some people claim that Bach actually invented the system of even temperament. However, guitars in Spain were evenly tempered at least as early as 1482, long before Bach was born. I sniped that from this site: http://www.math.okstate.edu/~dunne/students/Temperament.html Regards, Don Rose, B.Mus., A.M.U.S., A.MUS., R.M.T., R.P.T. Tuner for the Saskatchewan Centre of the Arts drose@dlcwest.com http://www.dlcwest.com/~drose/ 3004 Grant Rd. REGINA, SK S4S 5G7 306-352-3620 or 1-888-29t-uner
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