All Questions
21 questions
3
votes
2
answers
103
views
Pythagorean diatonic scale vs pure notes
I am new to music theory, and was looking at the history of tuning. I got intrigued by Pythagorean tuning, and the subsequent adoption of equal temperament. So I tried to derive them myself. This was ...
2
votes
1
answer
218
views
When did the oboe wind up being the standard to tune other instruments in an ensemble / orchestra?
As a follow up to the question why does the orchestra tune to the oboe, I'm asking since when this became standard practice? For example, was it since the Modern oboe, or already since the Classical ...
- 2,518
3
votes
1
answer
145
views
Is there a historical connection between the charango and the jarana jarocha?
Context: Charango, Jarana jarocha
The Andean charango and the jarana jarocha (jarocho means "from Veracruz, Mexico") both usually have five courses of strings. The middle course has two ...
- 467
4
votes
2
answers
447
views
Why is the solo/featured instrument in so many Baroque-era concerti silent during the slow movement?
Is the reason the soloist is
often silent during a Baroque-era concerto simply to provide a break from all the virtuosity often required within the outer movements? Or is it to allow a string soloist ...
3
votes
1
answer
94
views
Consonant vs. Dissonant Major Thirds: Historical Process and Significance of Tuning System
In the comments to the question Why is the fourth against the bass considered a dissonance?, I wrote
A 5:4 third was considered dissonant until musical tastes changed and declared it consonant.
To ...
- 95k
11
votes
1
answer
888
views
When and/or how did Western music shift from downward to upward scale concepts?
The ancient Greeks constructed their scales from top to bottom.
For example, Wikipedia:
Note that Greek theorists conceived of scales as descending from higher pitch to lower (the opposite of modern ...
- 95k
4
votes
1
answer
376
views
Did the first piano use an equal-tempered or natural scale?
Both the piano and the equal-tempered scale were invented in the 1700s (according to Wikipedia, at least). But what I'm wondering is whether the first piano constructed used an equal-tempered scale, ...
- 143
2
votes
1
answer
196
views
reference pitch before the invention of the tuning fork [duplicate]
What was the reference pitch before the invention of the tuning fork in 1711?
Was it somewhat a task to try and get within the ballpark of referenced pitch?
Like for instance, maybe they knew what ...
- 21
5
votes
2
answers
285
views
When was "Nashville Tuning" invented?
Answering a question about alternate tuning today got me thinking about Nashville Tuning and that this is basically the exact same concept used by Stanley Clarke (and apparently Ron Carter) to "invent"...
- 2,608
0
votes
2
answers
497
views
What does "vox humana" mean in Organ building?
Reading a thesis about temperature in Organ construction I encountered this term and I didn't know anything about it before.
So I wonder what you can tell us about "vox humana".
- 26.1k
8
votes
1
answer
801
views
How do people measure which tuning freqency were used during Baroque period?
In a website decribing the story of A=415Hz, it points out that
In the Baroque Era, pitch levels as high as A-465 (17th century
Venice) and as low as A-392 (18th century France) are known to ...
- 399
8
votes
2
answers
873
views
Historically informed performance - Tuning
I recently attended a performance of Beethoven's Violin Concerto by Nicola Benedetti and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment under Marin Alsop. At the end, Nicola played an encore: a version of ...
- 4,273
10
votes
2
answers
1k
views
How did Pythagoras and Ptolemy measure the relative pitch of musical notes?
Both Pythagoras and Ptolemy believed that the intervals between notes in music should be ratios of small integer numbers. This is known as Just Intonation. Pythagoras liked them to derived from ...
- 291
30
votes
4
answers
26k
views
Why is a 440 Hz frequency considered the "standard" pitch for musical instruments?
I was reading the Idiot's Guides: Music Theory (3rd edition), and I read:
The "standard" pitch today that most musicians tune to is the A above middle C, which equals 440 Hz; all the other ...
- 725
11
votes
4
answers
14k
views
How did people tune their instruments in the past?
Today we are using electronic tuners and know everything about frequencies but in the past, like before the 16th century, how could people tune their instruments? Did they tune them to specific ...
- 507
2
votes
1
answer
138
views
Tuning and the aria, Hell's Vengeance, was the triple F lower?
In the famous aria from The Magic Flute, Hell's Vengeance sung by the Queen of the Night, there is a notoriously high triple F (Fa5).
I have heard that in Mozart's time the note was sung lower than ...
- 885
6
votes
4
answers
2k
views
Absolute pitch - has it varied through the centuries?
At the moment, absolute pitch seems to be using 12et, with A=440 Hz. Would this have been the case, say, in the Baroque period, when A=quite a bit less than 440 Hz? With some orchestras using 442 Hz, ...
- 198k
42
votes
10
answers
31k
views
Why is the double bass the only instrument in the violin family tuned in fourths?
Out of the 4 instruments of the Violin Family (Violin, Viola, Cello, Double Bass), the bass is the only instrument tuned in fourths.
Wikipedia states
The double bass is generally tuned in fourths, ...
- 31.5k
11
votes
1
answer
216
views
How were tuning/temperaments indicated on scores (if they ever were)?
Bradley Lehman claims that the details of the intended tuning for the Well-Tempered Claivier are encoded in the squiggle at the top of the manuscript (related wikipedia link).
Are there other (...
- 17.9k
8
votes
2
answers
37k
views
Why is the guitar tuned E A D G B E? [duplicate]
Why is the standard tuning for the guitar E A D G B E, from the lowest string to the highest?
The interval between strings is a perfect 4th, except for the interval between the G and B strings, ...
- 345
17
votes
3
answers
2k
views
What is the reason for pitch inflation?
There's this phenomenon among instrumentalists to constantly raise the pitch of the concert A. This generally occurs among string players, since the range of tunings for woodwinds, for example, is ...
- 344