Just intonation

(3 2). For example, two tones, one at 300 hertz (cycles

per second), and the other at 200 hertz are both multiples
of 100 Hz and as such members of the harmonic series
built on 100 Hz. Thus 3/2, known as a perfect fth, may
be dened as the musical interval (the ratio) between the
second and third harmonics of any fundamental pitch.

1 Audio examples
Just intonation An A-major scale, followed by three
major triads, and then a progression of fths in just into-
nation.
Equal temperament An A-major scale, followed by
Harmonic series, partials 15 numbered Play . three major triads, and then a progression of fths in
equal temperament. By listening to the above le, and
then listening to this one, one might be able to hear the
In music, just intonation (sometimes abbreviated as JI) beating in this le.
or pure intonation is any musical tuning in which the
frequencies of notes are related by ratios of small whole Equal temperament and just intonation compared A
numbers. Any interval tuned in this way is called a pure pair of major thirds, followed by a pair of full major
or just interval. Pure intervals are important in mu- chords. The rst in each pair is in equal temperament;
sic because they naturally tend to be perceived by hu- the second is in just intonation. Piano sound.
mans as "consonant": pleasing or satisfying. Intervals Equal temperament and just intonation compared with
not satisfying this criterion, conversely, tend to be per- square waveform A pair of major chords. The rst is
ceived as unpleasant or as creating dissatisfaction or ten- in equal temperament; the second is in just intonation.
sion. The two notes in any just interval are members of The pair of chords is repeated with a transition from
the same harmonic series.[lower-alpha 1] Frequency ratios in- equal temperament to just temperament between the two
volving large integers such as 1024:729 are not gener- chords. In the equal temperament chords a roughness or
ally said to be justly tuned. Just intonation is the tun- beating can be heard at about 4 Hz and about 0.8 Hz.
ing system of the later ancient Greek modes as codied In the just intonation triad, this roughness is absent. The
by Ptolemy; it was the aesthetic ideal of the Renaissance square waveform makes the dierence between equal and
theorists; and it is the tuning practice of a great many mu- just temperaments more obvious.
sical cultures worldwide, both ancient and modern.[1]
Just intonation can be contrasted and compared with
equal temperament, which dominates Western instru- 2 History
ments of xed pitch (e.g., piano or organ) and default
MIDI tuning on electronic keyboards. In equal temper-
ament, all intervals are dened as multiples of the same
2.1 Origins
basic interval, or more precisely, the intervals are ratios
Harmonic intervals come naturally to horns, vibrating
which are integer powers of the smallest step ratio, so
strings, and in human singing voices.
two notes separated by the same number of steps always
have exactly the same frequency ratio. However, except
for doubling of frequencies (one or more octaves), no
2.2 Recorded history
other intervals are exact ratios of small integers. Each
just interval diers a dierent amount from its analogous, Pythagorean tuning, perhaps the rst tuning system to be
equally tempered interval. theorized in the West,[2] is a system in which all tones can
Justly tuned intervals can be written as either ratios, with be found using powers of the ratio 3:2, an interval known
a colon (for example, 3:2), or as fractions, with a solidus as a perfect fth. It is easier to think of this system as

1
2 3 DIATONIC SCALE

a cycle of fths. Because a series of 12 fths with ratio

3:2 does not reach the same pitch class it began with, this
system uses a wolf fth at the end of the cycle, to obtain
its closure.
Quarter-comma meantone obtained a more consonant
tuning of the major and minor thirds, but when limited Primary forms of the just tone row from Ben Johnston's String
to twelve keys (see split keys), the system does not close, Quartet No. 7, mov. 2[4] Play and Play hexachords . Each
leaving a very dissonant diminished sixth between the rst permutation contains a just chromatic scale, however, transfor-
and last tones of the cycle of fths. mations (transposition and inversion) produce pitches outside of
the primary row form, as already occurs in the inversion of P0.
In Pythagorean tuning, the only highly consonant inter-
vals were the perfect fth and its inversion, the perfect
fourth. The Pythagorean major third (81:64) and minor 2.3 Modern practice
third (32:27) were dissonant, and this prevented musi-
cians from using triads and chords, forcing them for cen-
turies to write music with relatively simple texture. In late
3 Diatonic scale
Middle Ages, musicians realized that by slightly temper-
ing the pitch of some notes, the Pythagorean thirds could Main article: Five-limit tuning
be made consonant. For instance, if one decreases by a
syntonic comma (81:80) the frequency of E, C-E (a ma- It is possible to tune the familiar diatonic scale or
jor third), and E-G (a minor third) become just. Namely, chromatic scale in just intonation in many ways, all of
C-E is attened to a justly intonated ratio of which make certain chords purely tuned and as consonant
and stable as possible, and the other chords not accommo-
dated and considerably less stable.
(81:64) (80:81) = 5:4

and at the same time E-G is sharpened to the just ratio of

(32:27) (81:80) = 6:5

The drawback is that the fths A-E and E-B, by attening

E, become almost as dissonant as the Pythagorean wolf Primary triads in C Play .
fth. But the fth C-G stays consonant, since only E has
been attened (C-E E-G = (5:4) (6:5) = 3:2), and can
be used together with C-E to produce a C-major triad (C-
E-G).
By generalizing this simple rationale, Gioseo Zarlino,
in the late sixteenth century, created the rst justly into-
nated 7-tone (diatonic) scale, which contained pure per-
fect fths (3:2), pure major thirds, and pure minor thirds:
FACEGBD
Just tuned diatonic scale derivation.[5]
This is a sequence of just major thirds (M3, ratio 5:4) and
just minor thirds (m3, ratio 6:5), starting from F: The prominent notes of a given scale are tuned so that
F + M3 + m3 + M3 + m3 + M3 + m3 their frequencies form ratios of relatively small integers.
For example, in the key of G major, the ratio of the fre-
Since M3 + m3 = P5 (perfect fth), i.e. (5:4) * (6:5) quencies of the notes G to D (a perfect fth) is 3/2, while
= 3:2, this is exactly equivalent to the diatonic scale ob- that of G to C (a perfect fourth) is 4/3. Three basic in-
tained in 5-limit just intonation. tervals can be used to construct any interval involving the
The Guqin has a musical scale based on harmonic prime numbers 2, 3, and 5 (known as 5-limit just intona-
overtone positions. The dots on its soundboard indicate tion):
the harmonic positions: 1/8, 1/6, 1/5, 1/4, 1/3, 2/5, 1/2,
3/5, 2/3, 3/4, 4/5, 5/6, 7/8.[3] 16:15 = s (Semitone)
4.2 Quarter-comma meantone 3

10:9 = t (Minor tone) scale, one of them is arbitrarily discarded. The twelve
remaining notes are repeated by increasing or decreasing
9:8 = T (Major tone) their frequencies by a power of 2 (the size of one or more
octaves) to build scales with multiple octaves (such as the
which combine to form: keyboard of a piano). A drawback of Pythagorean tun-
ing is that one of the twelve fths in this scale is badly
6:5 = Ts (minor third) tuned and hence unusable (the wolf fth, either F-D if
G is discarded, or B-G if F is discarded). This twelve
5:4 = Tt (major third) tone scale is fairly close to equal temperament, but it does
not oer much advantage for tonal harmony because only
4:3 = Tts (perfect fourth)
the perfect intervals (fourth, fth, and octave) are simple
3:2 = TTts (perfect fth) enough to sound pure. Major thirds, for instance, receive
the rather unstable interval of 81/64, sharp of the pre-
2:1 = TTTttss (octave) ferred 5/4 by an 81/80 ratio.[9] The primary reason for
its use is that it is extremely easy to tune, as its building
A just diatonic scale may be derived as follows. Suppose block, the perfect fth, is the simplest and consequently
we insist that the chords F-A-C, C-E-G, and G-B-D be the most consonant interval after the octave and unison.
just major triads (then A-C-E and E-G-B are just minor Pythagorean tuning may be regarded as a 3-limit tun-
triads, but D-F-A is not). ing system, because the ratios are obtained by using only
Then we obtain this scale[5][6][7] (Ptolemys intense dia- powers of n, where n is at most 3.
tonic scale[8] ):
The major thirds are correct, and two minor thirds are 4.2 Quarter-comma meantone
right, but D-F is a 32:27 semiditone. Others approaches
are possible (see Five-limit tuning), but it is impossible to Main article: Quarter-comma meantone
get all six above-mentioned chords correct. Concerning
triads, the triads on I, IV, and V are 4:5:6, the triad on ii
is 27:32:40, the triads on iii and vi are 10:12:15, and the The quarter-comma meantone tuning system uses a sim-
triad on vii is 45:54:64. ilar sequence of fths to produce a twelve tone scale.
However, it attens the fths by about 5.38 cents with
respect to their just intonation, in order to generate justly
tuned major thirds (with interval ratio 5:4).
4 Twelve tone scale
Although this tuning system is based on a just ratio (5:4),
it cannot be considered a just intonation system, because
There are several ways to create a just tuning of the twelve
most of its intervals are irrational numbers (i.e. they can-
tone scale.
not be expressed as fractions of integers). For instance:

4.1 Pythagorean tuning the ratio of most semitones is S = 8 : 55/4 ,

the ratio of most tones is T = 5 : 2,
Main article: Pythagorean tuning

the ratio of most fths is P = 4 5.
The oldest known form of tuning, Pythagorean tuning,
can produce a twelve tone scale, but it does so by involv-
ing ratios of very large numbers, corresponding to natural 4.3 Five-limit tuning
harmonics very high in the harmonic series that do not oc-
cur widely in physical phenomena. This tuning uses ratios Main article: ve-limit tuning
involving only powers of 3 and 2, creating a sequence of
just fths or fourths, as follows: A twelve tone scale can also be created by compounding
The ratios are computed with respect to C (the base note). harmonics up to the fth. Namely, by multiplying the
Starting from C, they are obtained by moving six steps frequency of a given reference note (the base note) by
(around the circle of fths) to the left and six to the right. powers of 2, 3, or 5, or a combination of them. This
Each step consists of a multiplication of the previous pitch method is called ve-limit tuning.
by 2/3 (descending fth), 3/2 (ascending fth), or their To build such a twelve tone scale, we may start by con-
inversions (3/4 or 4/3). structing a table containing fteen pitches:
Between the enharmonic notes at both ends of this se- The factors listed in the rst row and column are powers
quence, is a dierence in pitch of nearly 24 cents, known of 3 and 5, respectively (e.g., 1/9 = 32 ). Colors indicate
as the Pythagorean comma. To produce a twelve tone couples of enharmonic notes with almost identical pitch.
4 6 PRACTICAL DIFFICULTIES

The ratios are all expressed relative to C in the centre of A scale with 25, 35 or even more pitches can be obtained
this diagram (the base note for this scale). They are com- by combining these base ratios (see Five-limit tuning for
puted in two steps: further details).

1. For each cell of the table, a base ratio is obtained by

multiplying the corresponding factors. For instance, 5 Indian scales
the base ratio for the lower-left cell is 1/9 x 1/5 =
1/45.
In Indian music, the just diatonic scale described above is
2. The base ratio is then multiplied by a negative or used, though there are dierent possibilities, for instance
positive power of 2, as large as needed to bring it for the 6th pitch (Dha), and further modications may be
within the range of the octave starting from C (from made to all pitches excepting Sa and Pa.[10]
1/1 to 2/1). For instance, the base ratio for the lower
Some accounts of Indian intonation system cite a given
left cell (1/45) is multiplied by 26 , and the resulting
22 rutis.[11][12] According to some musicians, one has a
ratio is 64/45, which is a number between 1/1 and
scale of a given 12 pitches and ten in addition (the tonic,
2/1.
Shadja (Sa), and the pure fth, Pancham (Pa), are invio-
late):
Note that the powers of 2 used in the second step may be
interpreted as ascending or descending octaves. For in- Where we have two ratios for a given letter name, we have
stance, multiplying the frequency of a note by 26 means a dierence of 81:80 (or 22 cents), which is known as the
increasing it by 6 octaves. Moreover, each row of the ta- syntonic comma.[9] One can see the symmetry, looking
ble may be considered to be a sequence of fths (ascend- at it from the tonic, then the octave.
ing to the right), and each column a sequence of major (This is just one example of explaining a 22-ruti scale
thirds (ascending upward). For instance, in the rst row of tones. There are many dierent explanations.)
of the table, there is an ascending fth from D and A, and
another one (followed by a descending octave) from A to
E. This suggests an alternative but equivalent method for
computing the same ratios. For instance, one can obtain 6 Practical diculties
A, starting from C, by moving one cell to the left and one
upward in the table, which means descending by a fth Some xed just intonation scales and systems, such as the
and ascending by a major third: diatonic scale above, produce wolf intervals. The above
scale allows a minor tone to occur next to a semitone
which produces the awkward ratio 32:27 for F:D, and still
2 5 10 5 worse, a minor tone next to a fourth giving 40:27 for A:D.
= = .
3 4 12 6 Moving D down to 10/9 alleviates these diculties but
Since this is below C, one needs to move up by an octave creates new ones: G:D becomes 27:20, and B:G becomes
to end up within the desired range of ratios (from 1/1 to 27:16.
2/1): One can have more frets on a guitar to handle both As,
9/8 with respect to G and 10/9 with respect to G so that
5 2 10 5 C:A can be played as 6:5 while D:A can still be played
= = . as 3:2. 9/8 and 10/9 are less than 1/53 octave apart, so
6 1 6 3
mechanical and performance considerations have made
A 12 tone scale is obtained by removing one note for each this approach extremely rare. And the problem of how
couple of enharmonic notes. This can be done in at least to tune chords such as C-E-G-A-D is left unresolved (for
three ways, which have in common the removal of G, ac- instance, A could be 4:3 below D (making it 9/8, if G is 1)
cording to a convention which was valid even for C-based or 4:3 above E (making it 10/9, if G is 1) but not both at
Pythagorean and 1/4-comma meantone scales. We show the same time, so one of the fourths in the chord will have
here only one of the possible strategies (the others are dis- to be an out-of-tune wolf interval). However the frets
cussed in Five-limit tuning). It consists of discarding the may be removed entirelythis, unfortunately, makes in-
rst column of the table (labeled "1/9"). The resulting tune ngering of many chords exceedingly dicult, due
12-tone scale is shown below: to the construction and mechanics of the human hand
and the tuning of most complex chords in just intonation
is generally ambiguous.
4.4 Extension of the twelve tone scale
Some composers deliberately use these wolf intervals and
The table above uses only low powers of 3 and 5 to build other dissonant intervals as a way to expand the tone color
the base ratios. However, it can be easily extended by us- palette of a piece of music. For example, the extended
ing higher positive and negative powers of the same num- piano pieces The Well-Tuned Piano by LaMonte Young,
bers, such as 52 = 25, 52 = 1/25, 33 = 27, or 33 = 1/27. and The Harp Of New Albion by Terry Riley use a combi-

nation of very consonant and dissonant intervals for mu-
sical eect. In Revelation, Michael Harrison goes even
farther, and uses the tempo of beat patterns produced
by some dissonant intervals as an integral part of several
movements.
For many instruments tuned in just intonation, one can-
not change keys without retuning the instrument. For in-
stance, if a piano is tuned in just intonation intervals and
a minimum of wolf intervals for the key of G, then only
one other key (typically E-at) can have the same inter-
vals, and many of the keys have a very dissonant and un-
pleasant sound. This makes modulation within a piece, or
playing a repertoire of pieces in dierent keys, impracti-
cal to impossible.
Synthesizers have proven a valuable tool for composers
wanting to experiment with just intonation. They can be
easily retuned with a microtuner. Many commercial syn-
thesizers provide the ability to use built-in just intonation
scales or to program your own. Wendy Carlos used a sys-
tem on her 1986 album Beauty in the Beast, where one
electronic keyboard was used to play the notes, and an-
other used to instantly set the root note to which all inter-
vals were tuned, which allowed for modulation. On her
1987 lecture album Secrets of Synthesis there are audible
examples of the dierence in sound between equal tem-
perament and just intonation.
7 Singing and unfretted stringed
instruments
The human voice is among the most pitch-exible instru-
ments in common use. Pitch can be varied with no re-
straints and adjusted in the midst of performance, without
needing to retune. Although the explicit use of just into-
nation fell out of favour concurrently with the increasing
use of instrumental accompaniment (with its attendant
constraints on pitch), most a cappella ensembles naturally
tend toward just intonation because of the comfort of its
stability. Barbershop quartets are a good example of this.
The unfretted stringed instruments from the violin family
(the violin, the viola, the cello and the double bass) are
quite exible in the way pitches can be adjusted. Stringed
instruments that are not playing with xed pitch instru-
ments tend to adjust the pitch of key notes such as thirds
and leading tones so that the pitches dier from equal
temperament.
8 Western composers
Most composers do not explicitly specify how instru-
ments are to be tuned, although historically most have
assumed one tuning system which was common in their
time; in the 20th century most composers assumed equal
5
temperament would be used. However, a few have spec-
ied just intonation systems for some or all of their com-
positions, including John Luther Adams, Glenn Branca,
Martin Bresnick, Wendy Carlos, Lawrence Chandler,
Tony Conrad, Fabio Costa, Stuart Dempster, David
B. Doty, Arnold Dreyblatt, Kyle Gann, Kraig Grady,
Lou Harrison, Michael Harrison, Ben Johnston, Elodie
Lauten, Gyrgy Ligeti, Douglas Leedy, Pauline Oliveros,
Harry Partch, Robert Rich, Terry Riley, Marc Sabat,
Wolfgang von Schweinitz, Adam Silverman, James Ten-
ney, Michael Waller, Daniel James Wolf, and La Monte
Young. Eivind Groven's tuning system was schismatic
temperament, which is capable of far closer approxima-
tions to just intonation consonances than 12-note equal
temperament or even meantone temperament, but still al-
ters the pure ratios of just intonation slightly in order to
achieve a simpler and more exible system than true just
intonation.
Music written in just intonation is most often tonal but
need not be; some music of Kraig Grady and Daniel
James Wolf uses just intonation scales designed by Erv
Wilson explicitly for a consonant form of atonality, and
Ben Johnstons Sonata for Microtonal Piano (1964) uses
serialism to achieve an atonal result. Composers often
impose a limit on how complex the ratios used are: for
example, a composer may write in 7-limit JI, mean-
ing that no prime number larger than 7 features in the
ratios they use. Under this scheme, the ratio 10/7, for
example, would be permitted, but 11/7 would not be,
as all non-prime numbers are octaves of, or mathemat-
ically and tonally related to, lower primes (example: 12
is a double octave of 3, while 9 is a square of 3). Yuri
Landman derived a just intoned musical scale from an ini-
tially considered atonal prepared guitar playing technique
based on adding a third bridge under the strings. When
this bridge is positioned in the noded positions of the
harmonic series the volume of the instrument increases
and the overtone becomes clear and has a consonant re-
lation to the complementary opposed string part creating
a harmonic multiphonic tone.[13]
9 Sta notation
Originally a system of notation to describe scales was de-
vised by Hauptmann and modied by Helmholtz (1877)
in which Pythagorean notes are started with and sub-
script numbers are added indicating how many commas
(81/80, syntonic comma) to lower by.[14] For example,
the Pythagorean major third on C is C+E ( Play ) while
the just major third is C+E1 ( Play ). A similar system
was devised by Carl Eitz and used in Barbour (1951) in
which Pythagorean notes are started with and positive or
negative superscript numbers are added indicating how
many commas (81/80, syntonic comma) to adjust by.[15]
For example, the Pythagorean major third on C is C-E0
while the just major third is C-E1 .
6 9
Ex. 1: Legend of the HE Accidentals
Pythagorean diatonic scale on C Play . Johnstons notation.
Just intonation diatonic scale on C Play . Johnstons notation
(Pythagorean major scale in Helmholtz-Ellis notation).
Just intonation diatonic scale on C. Helmholtz-Ellis notation.
Just harmonic seventh chord on C Play . 7th: 968.826 cents, a To facilitate quick estimation of pitches, cents indications
septimal quarter tone lower than B.
While these systems allow precise indication of inter- pitch implied by the at, natural, or sharp sign and the
STAFF NOTATION
vals and pitches in print, more recently some composers
have been developing notation methods for Just Intona-
tion using the conventional ve-line sta. James Tenney,
amongst others, preferred to combine JI ratios with cents
deviations from the equal tempered pitches, indicated in
a legend or directly in the score, allowing performers to
readily use electronic tuning devices if desired.[16] Begin-
ning in the 1960s, Ben Johnston had proposed an alter-
native approach, redening the understanding of conven-
tional symbols (the seven white notes, the sharps and
ats) and adding further accidentals, each designed to ex-
tend the notation into higher prime limits. His notation,
begins with the 16th-century Italian denitions of inter-
vals and continues from there.[17]
Johnstons method is based on a diatonic C Major scale
tuned in JI, in which the interval between D (9/8 above
C) and A (5/3 above C) is one syntonic comma less than
a Pythagorean perfect fth 3:2. To write a perfect fth,
Johnston introduces a pair of symbols representing this
comma, + and . Thus, a series of perfect fths begin-
ning with F would proceed C G D A+ E+ B+. The three
conventional white notes A E B are tuned as Ptolemaic
major thirds (5:4) above F C G respectively. Johnston
introduces new symbols for the septimal ( & ), un-
decimal ( & ), tridecimal ( & ), and further prime
extensions to create an accidental based exact JI notation
for what he has named Extended Just Intonation.[18] For
example, the Pythagorean major third on C is C-E+ while
the just major third is C-E.
In 20002004, Marc Sabat and Wolfgang von Schweinitz
worked in Berlin to develop a dierent accidental
based method, the Extended Helmholtz-Ellis JI Pitch
Notation.[19] Following the method of notation suggested
by Helmholtz in his classic On the Sensations of Tone as
a Physiological Basis for the Theory of Music, incorpo-
rating Ellis invention of cents, and continuing Johnstons
step into Extended JI, Sabat and Schweinitz consider
each prime dimension of harmonic space to be repre-
sented by a unique symbol. In particular they take the
conventional ats, naturals and sharps as a Pythagorean
series of perfect fths. Thus, a series of perfect fths
beginning with F proceeds C G D A E B F and so on.
The advantage for musicians is that conventional read-
ing of the basic fourths and fths remains familiar. Such
an approach has also been advocated by Daniel James
Wolf. In the Sabat-Schweinitz design, syntonic commas
are marked by arrows attached to the at, natural or sharp
sign, Septimal Commas using Giuseppe Tartini's symbol,
and Undecimal Quartertones using the common practice
quartertone signs rst used by Richard H. Stein (a single
cross and backwards at).
For higher primes, additional signs have been designed.
may be added (downward deviations below and upward
deviations above the respective accidental). The conven-
tion used is that the cents written refer to the tempered
 7

note name. A complete legend and fonts for the notation
(see samples) are open source and available from Plain-
sound Music Edition.[20] For example, the Pythagorean
major third on C is C-E while the just major third is
C-E-arrow-down.
[2] The oldest known description of the Pythagorean tuning
system appears in Babylonian artifacts. See: West, M.L.
(May 1994). The Babylonian Musical Notation and the
Hurrian Melodic Texts. Music & Letters 75 (2): 161
179. doi:10.1093/ml/75.2.161. JSTOR 737674.

[3] Qin Tunings, Some Theoretical Concepts. Table 2: Rel-

ative positions of studs on the qin.

[4] Fonville, John (Summer, 1991). Ben Johnstons Ex-

tended Just Intonation: A Guide for Interpreters, p.127,
Perspectives of New Music, Vol. 29, No. 2, pp. 106137.

Sta notation of partials 1, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17, and 19 on C[21] [5] Murray Campbell, Clive Greated (1994). The Musicians
using Johnstons notation Play Guide to Acoustics, p.172-73. ISBN 978-0-19-816505-7.

[6] Wright, David (2009). Mathematics and Music, p.140-41.

One of the great advantages of such notation systems is ISBN 978-0-8218-4873-9.
that they allow the natural harmonic series to be precisely
notated. [7] Johnston, Ben and Gilmore, Bob (2006). A Notation
System for Extended Just Intonation (2003), Maximum
clarity and Other Writings on Music, p.78. ISBN 978-0-
252-03098-7.
10 See also
[8] Partch, Harry (1979). Genesis of a Music, p.165&73.
ISBN 978-0-306-80106-8.
Mathematics of musical scales
[9] Danielou, Alain (1968). The Ragas of Northern Indian
Microtonal music Music. Barrie & Rockli, London. ISBN 0-214-15689-
3.
Microtuner
[10] Bagchee, Sandeep. Nad: Understanding Raga Music. BPI
Pythagorean interval (India) PVT Ltd. p. 23. ISBN 81-86982-07-8.
List of intervals in 5-limit just intonation [11] Danielou, Alain (1995). Music and the Power of Sound:
The Inuence of Tuning and Interval on Consciousness.
List of meantone intervals Inner Traditions; Rep Sub edition. ISBN 0892813369.

List of musical intervals [12] Danielou, Alain (1999). Introduction to the Study of Mu-
sical Scales. Oriental Book Reprint Corporation. ISBN
List of pitch intervals 8170690986.

Whole-tone scale [13] 3rd Bridge Helix by Yuri Landman on furious.com

Superparticular number [14] Hermann von Helmholtz (1885). On the Sensations of

Tone as a Physiological Basis for the Theory of Music,
Regular number p.276. Longmans, Green. Note the use of the + between
just major thirds, between just minor thirds, | between
Hexany Pythagorean minor thirds, and between perfect fths.

Electronic tuner [15] Benson, David J. (2007). Music: A Mathematical Oer-

ing, p.172. ISBN 978-0-521-85387-3. Cites Eitz, Carl A.
(1891). Das mathematisch-reine Tonsystem. Leipzig.

11 Notes
[1] There will be several such series for any given justly tuned
note pair. The fundamental notes of those series will, of
course, be harmonically related.
[16] Garland, Peter, ed. (1984). The Music of James Tenney.
Soundings. Vol. 13. Santa Fe, New Mexico: Soundings
Press. OCLC 11371167.
[17] "Just Intonation Explained", KyleGann.com. Accessed
February 2016.

[18] Johnston & Gilmore (2006), p.77-88.

12 Sources [19] Manfred Stahnke, ed. (2005). The Extended Helmholtz-
Ellis JI Pitch Notation: eine Notationsmethode fr die
[1] Gilmore, Bob (2006). Introduction, Maximum Clarity natrlichen Intervalle. Mikrotne und Mehr Auf Gyrgy
and Other Writings On Music, p.xiv. ISBN 978-0-252- Ligetis Hamburger Pfaden. Hamburg: von Bockel Verlag.
03098-7. ISBN 3-932696-62-X.
8 13 EXTERNAL LINKS

[20] Sabat, Marc. The Extended Helmholtz Ellis JI Pitch No-

tation. Plainsound Music Edition. Retrieved 2014.

[21] Fonville, John. 1991. Ben Johnstons Extended Just In-

tonation: A Guide for Interpreters, p.121. Perspectives
of New Music 29, no. 2 (Summer): 10637.

13 External links
Art of the States: microtonal/just intonation works
using just intonation by American composers

The Chrysalis Foundation Just Intonation: Two

Denitions

Dante Rosatis 21 Tone Just Intonation guitar

Just Intonation by Mark Nowitzky

Just intonation compared with meantone and 12-

equal temperaments; a video featuring Pachelbels
canon.
Just Intonation Explained by Kyle Gann

A selection of Just Intonation works edited by the

Just Intonation Network web published on the Tellus
Audio Cassette Magazine project archive at Ubuweb
Medieval Music and Arts Foundation

Music Novatory Just Intonation

Why does Just Intonation sound so good?

The Wilson Archives

Barbieri, Patrizio. Enharmonic instruments and mu-
sic, 14701900. (2008) Latina, Il Levante
22 Note Just Intonation Keyboard Software with 12
Indian Instrument Sounds Libreria Editrice

Plainsound Music Edition JI music and research,

information about the Helmholtz-Ellis JI Pitch No-
tation
A Proposed Color Notation for JI
 9

14 Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

14.1 Text
Just intonation Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Just_intonation?oldid=718110461 Contributors: The Epopt, Zundark, Tarquin, Karl
E. V. Palmen, Karl Palmen, Camembert, Stephen Hutchinson, Twilsonb, Michael Hardy, JakeVortex, Starfarmer, Cyde, AugPi, Nikai,
Bemoeial, Furrykef, Hyacinth, Omegatron, Opus33, Srkorn, Ojigiri~enwiki, Diderot, FrankSier, Gwalla, Gene Ward Smith, Ds13, Drat-
man, Henry Flower, Mboverload, RayTomes, Zzo38, Steuard, Andycjp, Sharavanabhava, DaveSeidel, MakeRocketGoNow, Bhugh, D6,
TrbleClef, Timsabin, Kwamikagami, One-dimensional Tangent, Prsephone1674, Vancegloster, Alansohn, Kanie, Keenan Pepper, Inky,
Mlessard, Woodstone, Ern.rod, StradivariusTV, DanBishop, Rjwilmsi, Wahoove, Bobhobbit, Chipuni, Missmarple, TheDJ, Glenn L,
Chobot, Antilived, Adoniscik, YurikBot, Personman, J4sp3rB, Piet Delport, Davidnortman, Zwobot, Cstaa, Wknight94, Ninly, Grin-
Bot~enwiki, SmackBot, Py, Monz, Cazort, Mcld, Betacommand, Chris the speller, NCurse, Mireut, Leoniceno, Tamfang, Sault, Makemi,
Vidan~enwiki, Jbergquist, Just plain Bill, Andeggs, MegA, JzG, Rigadoun, Ksn, Stelio, Carneyfex~enwiki, Rainwarrior, Dicklyon, No-
vangelis, Violncello, OnBeyondZebrax, Amakuru, CRGreathouse, Davidryan168, Haphar, Alton, Musicalantonio, R.christie, Ssilvers,
Namrevlis, Thijs!bot, Kubanczyk, Maxxo, Jan civil, Jaxelrod, Ramune808, Postlewaight, Darklilac, Sluzzelin, Albany NY, RebelRobot,
Steve Bob, Magioladitis, Prof.rick, Craig Baker, Jerome Kohl, Faizhaider, Robomojo, David Eppstein, JMyrleFuller, Black Stripe, Jtir,
Adavidb, SharkD, Frank Zamjatin, Harpsichordman, Slinto, Howard Wright, Houtlijm~enwiki, Commator~enwiki, Gwatwa, LeadSong-
Dog, Paolo.dL, YuriLandman, ImageRemovalBot, Ambrosia374743, Wikisound1, KenShirri, Mohriner, Nowitzky, XLinkBot, Marc
van Leeuwen, Addbot, Jafeluv, MrOllie, Redheylin, Sardur, Erutuon, Paul.du.bois.wp, Legobot, Luckas-bot, AnomieBOT, Citation bot,
Another Stickler, Edrowland, Xqbot, Depassp, Outdepth, Ligia, Braybaroque, PHansen, FrescoBot, KosmischeSynth, Spidey104, Nuref-
san, Gerda Arendt, Double sharp, Piper Bob, Dinamik-bot, 000masa000, Mean as custard, RjwilmsiBot, Ke6gwf~enwiki, Dewritech,
, Contribuidor, Brycehathaway, ChuispastonBot, Geiss, Justlettersandnumbers, half-moon bubba, Helpful Pixie Bot, Dlw20070716,
BG19bot, CitationCleanerBot, EricJacksonArts, Kperry1408, In between the notes, Greg Fridholm, DavidLeighEllis, Samsbanned,
TonesInTune, KasparBot, Microtonal Hayward and Anonymous: 179

14.2 Images
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File:Ben_Johnston_String_Quartet_No._7,_mov._2_just_tone_row.png Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/
9/9a/Ben_Johnston_String_Quartet_No._7%2C_mov._2_just_tone_row.png License: Public domain Contributors: (Original text: Created
by Hyacinth (talk) 02:04, 17 October 2010 using Sibelius 5. Source: text version in Fonville, John (Summer, 1991). Ben Johnstons Extended
Just Intonation: A Guide for Interpreters, p.127, Perspectives of New Music, Vol. 29, No. 2, pp. 106-137.) Original artist: Created by
Hyacinth (talk) 02:04, 17 October 2010 using Sibelius 5.
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10 14 TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES

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