Young Temperament

Quick Facts

Creator

Thomas Young (1800)

Historical Era

Classical

Formula Type

cent-offsets

Key Advantage

Gentle key color with pure-leaning thirds in flat-side keys; very playable in all keys.

Key Limitation

Modest key character differences may feel too uniform for some Baroque repertoire.

Typical Use

Classical and Romantic keyboard music; frequently cited in tuning comparisons.

Mathematical Basis

This well temperament distributes the Pythagorean comma unevenly across the circle of fifths, giving pure or near-pure intervals in closely-related keys while making distant keys progressively more tempered.

Sound Character

Well temperaments feature varied key color: keys near C major sound purer and more consonant, while distant keys (many sharps or flats) have more harmonic tension and a brighter, more chromatic character. This gives each key a distinctive musical affect, making well temperaments particularly suited to multi-key keyboard repertoire.

Young Temperament Frequency Table — All 12 Notes at A4=440Hz

Frequencies in Hz at A4=440Hz. Positive cents = sharper than equal temperament. Negative = flatter. Formula: f = f_equal × 2^(cents/1200)

Historical Context

Young Temperament originates from the Classical era, developed by Thomas Young (1800). It was primarily used for Classical and Romantic keyboard music; frequently cited in tuning comparisons..

Well temperaments emerged in the Baroque era as practical compromises between meantone purity and equal temperament flexibility. J.S. Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier (1722) may have been composed with a specific well temperament in mind.

Who Uses Young Temperament Today

Well temperaments are used today by harpsichordists, fortepiano players, and historically-informed keyboard performers. Many period instrument specialists choose specific well temperaments to match the repertoire being performed.

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