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Showing results for equal temperament. Search instead for Human+Temperament.

equal temperament

American  

noun

Music.
  1. the division of an octave into 12 equal semitones, as in the tuning of a piano.


Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

In its simplest terms, just intonation means that the ratios between notes are whole numbers, rather than the irrational ratios that divide the octave in the familiar framework of equal temperament.

From New York Times • Dec. 28, 2021

But it also loses in the process a richness, making me wonder what might have happened were it played in a more acoustically natural equal temperament.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 25, 2017

Meanwhile there was no such thing back then as equal temperament.

From The Guardian • Dec. 29, 2016

Soon he challenged the system of equal temperament that has dominated Western music for centuries.

From New York Times • Apr. 28, 2016

A number of YouTube videos provide comparisons that you can listen to, for example comparisons of just intonation and equal temperament, or comparisons of various temperaments.

From "Understanding Basic Music Theory" by Catherine Schmidt-Jones and Russel Jones

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