Just Intonation is any tuning system in which all of the intervals can be represented by whole-number ratios, with a strong preference for simple ratios. That's the geek's definition.
In order to understand Just Intonation you need to understand that conventional intonation -the pop and classical music we hear every day- is slightly out of tune, a result of each half-step of the scale being an equal distance apart. This is so that the music can change keys and sound more or less the same.
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Just Intonation is any tuning system in which all of the intervals can be represented by whole-number ratios, with a strong preference for simple ratios. That's the geek's definition.
In order to understand Just Intonation you need to understand that conventional intonation -the pop and classical music we hear every day- is slightly out of tune, a result of each half-step of the scale being an equal distance apart. This is so that the music can change keys and sound more or less the same.
With just intonation the notes and chords are perfectly tuned, usually to align with the overtones, but then the scale is no longer symmetrical and modulation to another key is difficult.
Just Intonation in practice can sound hardly different than normal, slightly "out of tune" like Gamelan, or can be drastically different. Certain pure chords can even seem to bray comically, without the slight vibrato, or phasing, of equal temperament. There are many tuning systems, "recipes" of scales, from the usual twelve-note to up in the forties.
