Craft · 6 pages · 12 min
How tuning a piano is a compromise
A tuner stretches octaves and tempers intervals because real strings and real keys cannot all be pure at once.
When the purchase is complete, return to the original window. It will refresh.
From the opening
Tuning a piano means setting every string to a chosen pitch that must live with all the others. The result is a compromise because a stiff string does not ring in pure multiples, and a scale that serves every key cannot keep every interval beatless. The opening covers equal temperament shares the impurity, stiff strings sharpen partials, and octaves are stretched on purpose.
The rest of the brief — the later sections and the reading notes — opens after Stripe confirms payment.
Inside
- Equal temperament shares the impurity
- Stiff strings sharpen partials
- Octaves are stretched on purpose
- Beats show the compromise
- Where the idea stops applying
- A distinction worth keeping
Sources
- Equal temperament
- Piano inharmonicity and octave stretch