Abstract
Most lutenists still tune in equal temperament, despite all the evidence that the best lutenists in the sixteenth through eighteenth centuries tuned in some version of meantone temperament. Baroque keyboard players, on the other hand, routinely tune in unequal temperaments, usually one of the many irregular keyboard temperaments available to them. Once the frets are arranged, the lute is extremely flexible in terms of pitch choice, whereas the keyboard is not. The lute's ability to play the same pitch in multiple locations and other idiomatic features allow it to access many key areas with few compromises. Nevertheless, many lutenists still mistakenly believe that regular unequal temperaments such as meantone temperaments are impossible or extremely difficult on the lute, despite all the informational and technological resources available today that facilitate the arrangement of meantone temperaments on lutes. Thus, they do not enjoy the many sonic benefits that unequal temperaments provide.
Published Version
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