Intonation and Temperament: A Special Orchestral Rehearsal

Aline Honingh
Music Informatics Research Group, Department of Computing, City University, London

Abstract

This paper describes aspects of the practice of intonation when playing music. The paper takes the form of a fictional story about a rehearsal of an amateur orchestra in which special attention is given to intonation and temperament. Through a couple of examples and demonstrations the members of the orchestra learn what playing ‘in tune’ means and what to listen for when they try to play in tune. It turns out that playing in tune is not as easy as it seems, a lot of music theoretical concepts are involved.

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