Young temperament
Encyclopedia
Young temperament is a well temperament
devised by Thomas Young
, which he included in a letter to the Royal Society of London written July 9, 1799. It was read January 16, 1800 and included in the Society's Philosophical Transactions published that year.
Before closing, Young outlined a practical method to "make the harmony most perfect in those key
s which are the most frequently used," by tuning upwards from C a sequence of six pure fourths
, as well as "six equally imperfect fifths
," in other words six progressively purer flat fifths. His goal was to give better major third
s in more commonly used keys, but to not have any unplayable keys. So in this system, the third C-E is only of a comma
(about 5 cents
) wide from just while the widest third is one syntonic comma
too wide (about 21 cents ).
(A just major third is a perfect 5:4 ratio which is about 386 cents. ) The thirds get wider as one moves around the circle of fifths like so:
The difference between twelve-tone equal temperament
and Young's temperament rounded to the nearest cent is as follows:
In 1801 Young changed the tuning of E, which is included in the temperament published in the collection of his lectures in 1807.
For a more complete investigation of Young's temperament, see Jorgensen, pp. 251–265.
Well temperament
Well temperament is a type of tempered tuning described in 20th-century music theory. The term is modelled on the German word wohltemperiert which appears in the title of J.S. Bach's famous composition, The Well-Tempered Clavier...
devised by Thomas Young
Thomas Young (scientist)
Thomas Young was an English polymath. He is famous for having partly deciphered Egyptian hieroglyphics before Jean-François Champollion eventually expanded on his work...
, which he included in a letter to the Royal Society of London written July 9, 1799. It was read January 16, 1800 and included in the Society's Philosophical Transactions published that year.
Before closing, Young outlined a practical method to "make the harmony most perfect in those key
Key (music)
In music theory, the term key is used in many different and sometimes contradictory ways. A common use is to speak of music as being "in" a specific key, such as in the key of C major or in the key of F-sharp. Sometimes the terms "major" or "minor" are appended, as in the key of A minor or in the...
s which are the most frequently used," by tuning upwards from C a sequence of six pure fourths
Perfect fourth
In classical music from Western culture, a fourth is a musical interval encompassing four staff positions , and the perfect fourth is a fourth spanning five semitones. For example, the ascending interval from C to the next F is a perfect fourth, as the note F lies five semitones above C, and there...
, as well as "six equally imperfect fifths
Perfect fifth
In classical music from Western culture, a fifth is a musical interval encompassing five staff positions , and the perfect fifth is a fifth spanning seven semitones, or in meantone, four diatonic semitones and three chromatic semitones...
," in other words six progressively purer flat fifths. His goal was to give better major third
Major third
In classical music from Western culture, a third is a musical interval encompassing three staff positions , and the major third is one of two commonly occurring thirds. It is qualified as major because it is the largest of the two: the major third spans four semitones, the minor third three...
s in more commonly used keys, but to not have any unplayable keys. So in this system, the third C-E is only of a comma
Comma (music)
In music theory, a comma is a minute interval, the difference resulting from tuning one note two different ways. The word "comma" used without qualification refers to the syntonic comma, which can be defined, for instance, as the difference between an F tuned using the D-based Pythagorean tuning...
(about 5 cents
Cent (music)
The cent is a logarithmic unit of measure used for musical intervals. Twelve-tone equal temperament divides the octave into 12 semitones of 100 cents each...
) wide from just while the widest third is one syntonic comma
Syntonic comma
In music theory, the syntonic comma, also known as the chromatic diesis, the comma of Didymus, the Ptolemaic comma, or the diatonic comma is a small comma type interval between two musical notes, equal to the frequency ratio 81:80, or around 21.51 cents...
too wide (about 21 cents ).
(A just major third is a perfect 5:4 ratio which is about 386 cents. ) The thirds get wider as one moves around the circle of fifths like so:
| Major third | Deviation from just |
|---|---|
| C-E | 5 cents wide |
| G-B, F-A | 8 cents wide |
| B-D, D-F | 10 cents wide |
| E-G, A-C | 14 cents wide |
| A-C, E-G | 18 cents wide |
| D-F, B-D | 20 cents wide |
| G-B | 21 cents wide |
The difference between twelve-tone equal temperament
Equal temperament
An equal temperament is a musical temperament, or a system of tuning, in which every pair of adjacent notes has an identical frequency ratio. As pitch is perceived roughly as the logarithm of frequency, this means that the perceived "distance" from every note to its nearest neighbor is the same for...
and Young's temperament rounded to the nearest cent is as follows:
| Note | Difference |
|---|---|
| A | 0 |
| A | +6 |
| B | -2 |
| C | +6 |
| C | 0 |
| D | +2 |
| D | +4 |
| E | -2 |
| F | +6 |
| F | -2 |
| G | +4 |
| G | +2 |
In 1801 Young changed the tuning of E, which is included in the temperament published in the collection of his lectures in 1807.
For a more complete investigation of Young's temperament, see Jorgensen, pp. 251–265.