Tuning Systems Explorer
Why does a piano sound slightly different from a choir singing in perfect harmony? For centuries, musicians have chosen between different ways of tuning the 12 notes. Hear equal temperament, just intonation, Pythagorean, meantone, and more, side by side.
Choose a Tuning System
Play the Keyboard
Tap keys to hear single notes in the chosen tuning. Tap two keys quickly to hear them together. The small number on each key shows how far it sits from equal temperament, in cents (1/100 of a half step).
Chord Lab: Hear the Difference
Listen for a slow “wah-wah” pulsing in the sustained sound. Those are beats : the faster they are, the further the interval is from pure.
| Interval | Size | Pure | Off by | Beats/sec |
|---|
Where the Compromise Hides
The 12 Fifths
A pure fifth (3:2) is 702 cents. Stacking twelve pure fifths overshoots seven octaves by about a quarter of a half step (the Pythagorean comma , 23.5 cents). Every tuning system has to hide that extra bit somewhere. Tap a fifth on the circle to hear it.
How Far Each Note Is From Equal Temperament
Things to Listen For
The sweetest third
Play a C major chord in Just Intonation, then in Equal Temperament. Notice how the just chord sounds calm and still, while equal temperament shimmers.
Meet the wolf
Choose Quarter-Comma Meantone and play the fifth from A♭ (G♯). That howl is the “wolf,” where the tuning’s compromise all lands in one place.
Every key has a color
In Werckmeister III, play C major and then F♯ major. Both are usable, but they don’t sound the same. Composers once chose keys partly for their color.
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