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Featured Listings

  • Roberts Pianos (Oxford)

    87, St. Clements St
    Oxford, Oxfordshire OX4 1AR
    England

  • Taylor Pianos Ltd

    Unit 15 Wroslyn Road Industrial Estate
    Wroslyn Road
    Freeland, Oxfordshire OX29 8HZ
    England

    Buying a piano is a big investment – financially

  • Shackell Pianos Ltd

    Thatched Cottage
    Lew
    Witney, Oxfordshire OX182AZ
    England

    Shackell Pianos have been buying and selling

  • Reuben Katz Pianos

    R/O The Old George
    Fore St, Milverton
    Taunton, Somerset TA4 1JU
    England

    Our Stock of new and reconditioned pianos has been

  • Barry Caradine Piano Specialist

    Unit 3C
    Bull Lane Industrial Estate
    Sudbury, Suffolk CO10 OBD
    England




Did You Know Piano Facts



Tuning Temperaments

How many piano tuning temperaments are there? There are countless variations, but most fall within three major categories;

1. Meantone, which generally concentrated the dissonance into a few unusable intervals (often called "wolf" intervals), so that the others could be Just. These are often called "restrictive" tunings, since there are certain intervals that are not usable. Good intervals are really good, bad ones are really bad. The Meantone era was approx. 1400-1700

2. Well-Temperament, which gives more consonance to the most often used keys, and more dissonance to the lesser used ones. Though not equal, these tunings are "non-restrictive" because all intervals can be used. The intervals range from Just to barely acceptable. Well-temperament refers to a genre, not a specific tuning. The Well-Tempered era is approx. 1700-1880.

3. Equal Temperament, which spreads the dissonance equally among all intervals. There is no difference in consonance or dissonance between any keys, thus, there are no good ones or bad ones. Equal temperament represents a complete average. Dates of its acceptance are debated, but there is ample evidence that it was widely available by 1900 and is the predominate tuning on keyboards, today. r.