Just / Pure vs. Meantone 1/4 Comma
Compare the tuning characteristics of Just / Pure and Meantone 1/4 Comma — cent deviations per note, practical guidance, and historical context.
At a Glance
| Feature | Just / Pure | Meantone 1/4 Comma |
|---|---|---|
| Category | just-intonation | meantone |
| Formula Type | just-ratios | fractional-comma |
| Historical Era | Renaissance / Theory | Renaissance / Early Baroque |
| Key Advantage | Perfectly pure major thirds (5:4) and fifths (3:2) in the home key. | Pure major thirds (5:4) in the most common Renaissance/Baroque keys. |
| Key Limitation | Fixed tonal center — modulating to other keys produces out-of-tune intervals. | A dissonant wolf fifth (between G# and Eb) makes enharmonic keys unusable. |
| Typical Use | A cappella choral music, theoretical analysis, and tuning reference for pure intervals. | Renaissance and early Baroque keyboard music in flat-key signatures. |
Cent Deviations: All 12 Notes vs. Equal Temperament
Positive cents = sharper than equal temperament. Negative = flatter. Difference column shows Meantone 1/4 Comma minus Just / Pure: positive means Meantone 1/4 Comma is sharper.
| Note | Just / Pure (¢) | Meantone 1/4 Comma (¢) | Difference (¢) |
|---|---|---|---|
| C4 | +15.64 | +10.27 | -5.38 |
| Db4 | +27.37 | -13.78 | -41.15 |
| D4 | +19.55 | +3.42 | -16.13 |
| Eb4 | +31.28 | +20.53 | -10.75 |
| E4 | -2.04 | -3.42 | -1.38 |
| F4 | +13.69 | +13.69 | 0.00 |
| Gb4 | +5.87 | -10.36 | -16.22 |
| G4 | +17.60 | +6.84 | -10.75 |
| Ab4 | +29.33 | -17.20 | -46.53 |
| A4 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Bb4 | +11.73 | +17.11 | +5.38 |
| B4 | +3.91 | -6.84 | -10.75 |
When to Choose Each
Choose Just / Pure when:
Choose Just / Pure for a cappella choirs, string quartets, and any ensemble exploring pure intonation in the home key. Best suited to music that stays near one tonal center rather than modulating widely.
Choose Meantone 1/4 Comma when:
Choose Meantone 1/4 Comma for Baroque keyboard music, Renaissance organ, and harpsichord repertoire where pure or near-pure thirds are the primary consonance.
Historical Context
Just / Pure predates meantone temperament historically. Meantone (dominant 1500-1700) emerged as a practical keyboard solution that split the difference between Pythagorean fifths and just-intonation thirds, distributing the syntonic comma to achieve near-pure thirds on keyboard instruments.
- Just / Pure
- Developed by Gioseffo Zarlino and Renaissance theorists — Renaissance / Theory era
- Meantone 1/4 Comma
- Developed by Pietro Aaron (c. 1523) — Renaissance / Early Baroque era
Compare Temperaments in Tunable — Get Tunable.
Tunable supports Just / Pure, Meantone 1/4 Comma, and 16 other tuning systems. Hear the difference in real-time as you play.
