Metronomic Tuning of Keyboard Instruments in the Tempered Scale

Abstract

This paper describes a practical method of tuning keyboard instruments in the tempered scale, based on the use of an ordinary metronome, and presents an extended table of beat frequencies for that purpose. The paper is intended to clarify the relationships between the beat frequencies corresponding to the various musical intervals, and to correct certain errors found in previously published material on this subject. A complete table of fundamental frequencies, based on A = 440, for the entire range generally found in a pipe organ, and accurate to four significant figures after the decimal point, is also included.