5 ms·
I think it's mostly just that 5ths give you a good balance between ergonomics and range, and 5ths are relatively easy to tune by ear. Something interesting abo
by elihu 5y ago
I think it's mostly just that 5ths give you a good balance between ergonomics and range, and 5ths are relatively easy to tune by ear.
Something interesting about violin tuning: if you tune by ear, you get a 3:2 ratio between the frequency of adjacent strings. If we're in the key of G, we can call the G string 1/1 in just intonation notation. The next string is D, or 3/2. Then we have A at 9/4. That's an octave and a just major second. The interesting thing is that when you get to E, it's 27/8. It's an octave and a major sixth, sort of. If we ignore the octave, it becomes 27/16 which is close to the more commonly used just major 6th which is 5/3.
If a violin is tuned to 12-tone equal temperament then the distinction is moot. But in a just tuning, that open E may well be a wrong note depending on what you're playing.
- kragen 5y agoViolins don't have frets.
- mandmandam 5y agoThey didn't mention frets... Tuning the open strings relative to each other, at least for non perfectly pitched people, results in tuning the strings justly rather than to equal temperament.
- mrob 5y agoThe 5th is the least tempered interval in 12 equal temperament (excluding the untempered octave and unison), with less than 2 cents difference from the just interval, and the violin only has 4 strings, so in practice it's probably close enough.
- kragen 5y agoYes, it would be hard to be less tempered than octave and unison :)
- elihu 5y agoThe errors stack, so you get about 6 cents error between the G and E string. That's enough to be a perceptible difference.
- mrob 5y agoTrue, but how often are you going to play an open G and an open E together?
- kragen 5y agoIt seems like there are some practical difficulties with that :) If you have a video of somebody who managed it, please share the link!
- elihu 5y agoYou don't, but you might play them sequentially. It's just something to be aware of, whether the strings were tuned to equal temperament or just intonation: if you're in the key of G, that open E might be a little off from the note you want. In practice, I think experienced violinists tend to avoid the open strings. This may be one of the reasons why.
- kragen 5y agoOf course it does. But, because violins don't have frets, that's only relevant when you're playing a string open.