What is the problem with just intonation?

What is the problem with just intonation?

Unfortunately, just intonation makes it impossible to change keys or tune your guitar.

Is just intonation better?

Some people describe harmonies in Just Intonation as being “full” or “rich”, while others describe them as “bland” or “lifeless”. However, most people would agree that JI harmonies are considerably smoother than tempered harmonies. There are several reasons for this.

How many notes are in just intonation?

To produce a twelve-tone scale, one of them is arbitrarily discarded. The twelve remaining notes are repeated by increasing or decreasing their frequencies by a power of 2 (the size of one or more octaves) to build scales with multiple octaves (such as the keyboard of a piano).

Is just intonation Pythagorean tuning?

Pythagorean tuning provides uniformity but not the chords. Just tuning, based on the simpler ratios of the overtone series, provides the chords but suffers from inequality of intervals.

Who invented just intonation?

Harry Partch was the first such composer. He defined his own scale with 43 pitches to the octave, and invented his own instruments to play it.

What is 5 limit just intonation?

Five-limit tuning The 5-limit consists of all just intonation intervals whose numerators and denominators are both products of the primes 2, 3, and 5; these are sometimes called regular numbers. Some examples of 5-limit intervals are 5/4, 6/5, 10/9 and 81/80.

Do orchestras use just intonation?

Yes, the strings of the strings section will be tuned to ET 5ths, usually, and generally the whole orchestra will play with a modern pitch reference (e.g., A 440). Also, world class musicians will often have a good enough pitch sense that they will play notes very close to equal temperament, if not right on.

What was wrong with Pythagorean tuning?

Pythagorean tuning provides uniformity but not the chords. Just tuning, based on the simpler ratios of the overtone series, provides the chords but suffers from inequality of intervals. Meantone tuning provides equal intervals but gives rise to several objectionable chords, even in simple music.

What instruments use just intonation?

The modern un-fretted bowed string instruments; the violin, viola, cello and bass, can and do play in just intonation and can modulate to any key center and maintain just intonation. Modern brass instruments without valves, such as the bugle, play in just intonation in one key only.

How many cents is 1 octave?

1200 cents
This unit is called a cent because it equals 1/100th of a half-step. A half-step is the smallest interval between two notes on the piano. There are 12 half-steps in an octave, and so one octave = 1200 cents.