Modern Tuning (c. 1820 – present)

Equal temperament became the universal standard for Western music in the 19th and 20th centuries. The industrial manufacture of pianos and other fixed-pitch instruments required a standardized tuning system, and equal temperament — with its perfectly uniform semitones and unlimited key access — was the practical choice. By the early 20th century, equal temperament was standard for all Western fixed-pitch instruments. It remains the global default for all contemporary Western music.

Standard Temperaments in the Modern Era

Equal Temperament The universal standard for all Western music from roughly 1850 to the present. Required for piano, guitar, woodwinds, brass, and all fixed-pitch instruments. Just Intonation (Major) An experimental and HIP resource in the Modern era. Used by microtonalists (Harry Partch, Ben Johnston), a cappella choirs, and contemporary string quartets exploring pure intonation. Pythagorean Tuning The intonation string players naturally apply to melodic passages. Understanding Pythagorean tuning explains expressive intonation in modern orchestral string playing. Werckmeister III Used by historically-informed keyboard performers for Baroque and early Classical repertoire. Represents the most important historical alternative to equal temperament in modern performance practice. Vallotti Used by fortepiano players and historically-informed performers of Classical-era keyboard repertoire.

Historical Context

The adoption of equal temperament was gradual and contested. Well temperaments persisted in organ tuning well into the 19th century — some European organs were re-tuned from well temperament to equal temperament only in the 1850s-1880s. The standardization of A=440Hz as the concert pitch reference (established by international agreement in 1939) completed the process of global tuning standardization. Contemporary interest in just intonation and microtonality (La Monte Young, Harry Partch, Ben Johnston) represents an experimental counter-current to equal temperament. Historically-informed performance (HIP) of pre-20th-century repertoire intentionally reverts to period-appropriate temperament systems.

Representative Repertoire

Frederic Chopin's piano works (1829-1849) and Franz Liszt's piano compositions (1824-1886) exploit equal temperament's full chromatic freedom and enharmonic equivalences. Richard Wagner's opera orchestra (1850-1882) established equal temperament as the definitive orchestral standard. Claude Debussy and impressionism (1890-1918) — whole-tone scales and chromatic harmonies that function only in equal temperament. Arnold Schoenberg's twelve-tone system (1921 onward) depends entirely on equal temperament's key neutrality. Contemporary music for all standard Western instruments assumes equal temperament as the baseline.

Explore Modern Tuning in Tunable — Get Tunable.

Tunable supports all 5 temperaments standard in the Modern era. See exact Hz deviations from equal temperament in real time as you play.

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Historical Era Sequence

← Classical All Temperaments

All Temperaments Note Frequencies Tone Generator Modern Standard