just intonation

American  

noun

Music.

1. a system of tuning based on the pure perfect fifth and major third.

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just intonation British  

noun

1. a form of tuning employing the pitch intervals of the untempered natural scale, sometimes employed in the playing of the violin, cello, etc

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Etymology

Origin of just intonation

First recorded in 1840–50

Example Sentences

Over the decades, Young wasn’t merely sitting on the material; he was continually working on it, even designing a new tuning in just intonation, to better express some of its harmonic content.

From New York Times • Mar. 24, 2022

The DJ knew only the name of the style: just intonation.

From New York Times • Dec. 28, 2021

During the last dozen years, he has emerged as an apostle of just intonation, an ancient tuning system tied to Indian and Chinese traditions but often ignored by Western composers.

From New York Times • Dec. 28, 2021

Whether or not it aligns your chakras or what-have-you, it could refresh your resistance, or at least set your inner tuning fork humming at a more just intonation.

From Slate • Mar. 4, 2019

The other accommodation with reality that just intonation must make is the fact that a single just-intonation tuning cannot be used to play in multiple keys.

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