meantone system: meaning, definition, pronunciation and examples
C2Technical/Academic
Quick answer
What does “meantone system” mean?
A historical system of tuning musical instruments, especially keyboard instruments, based on fifths that are slightly narrowed to achieve more harmonious thirds.
Audio
Pronunciation
Definition
Meaning and Definition
A historical system of tuning musical instruments, especially keyboard instruments, based on fifths that are slightly narrowed to achieve more harmonious thirds.
More broadly, any tuning system that compromises pure intervals, especially perfect fifths, to improve the consonance of other intervals like thirds. In music theory, it represents a class of temperaments used widely from the Renaissance through the Baroque period.
Dialectal Variation
British vs American Usage
Differences
No significant lexical or usage differences. The term is identical and used with the same frequency and meaning in both musicological traditions.
Connotations
Identical. Connotes historical musicology, early music performance, and tuning theory.
Frequency
Equally low-frequency and specialised in both varieties. Likely encountered only in advanced musicology, instrument history, or tuning workshops.
Grammar
How to Use “meantone system” in a Sentence
The [instrument] was tuned using a/the meantone system.[Musician/Composer] preferred/composed for the meantone system.The transition from the meantone system to equal temperament was gradual.Vocabulary
Collocations
Examples
Examples of “meantone system” in a Sentence
verb
British English
- The organ was then meantoned, producing the characteristic sweet thirds.
- He spent the afternoon meantoning the harpsichord.
American English
- The technician meantoned the fortepiano for the recital.
- She learned how to meantone a clavichord.
adverb
British English
- The instrument was tuned meantone, not equally.
American English
- The piece was performed meantone, revealing its original harmonies.
Usage
Meaning in Context
Business
Virtually never used.
Academic
Primary context. Used in musicology, historical performance practice, acoustics, and organology.
Everyday
Virtually never used.
Technical
Secondary context. Used by instrument builders, tuners, and audio engineers working with historical instruments or microtonal music.
Vocabulary
Synonyms of “meantone system”
Strong
Neutral
Weak
Vocabulary
Antonyms of “meantone system”
Watch out
Common Mistakes When Using “meantone system”
- Writing it as two words ('mean tone system') in a technical context where the compound 'meantone' is standard. Confusing it with 'minor tone', a different musical interval.
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, but primarily in historically informed performances of Renaissance and Baroque music on replicas of period instruments like harpsichords, organs, and clavichords.
It produces remarkably pure, consonant major thirds (closer to 'just intonation') compared to equal temperament, at the expense of making some fifths and remote keys unusably out of tune.
It specifies that the perfect fifth is narrowed (tempered) by exactly one quarter of a syntonic comma, a small unit of pitch measurement. This was the most common historical variant.
Equal temperament divides the octave into 12 identical semitones, making all keys equally (but slightly) out of tune. Meantone makes a few keys very in-tune and others prohibitively out of tune, limiting harmonic modulation.
A historical system of tuning musical instruments, especially keyboard instruments, based on fifths that are slightly narrowed to achieve more harmonious thirds.
Meantone system is usually technical/academic in register.
Meantone system: in British English it is pronounced /ˈmiːntəʊn ˌsɪstəm/, and in American English it is pronounced /ˈmiːntoʊn ˌsɪstəm/. Tap the audio buttons above to hear it.
Phrases
Idioms & Phrases
- “None applicable. The term is strictly technical.”
Learning
Memory Aids
Mnemonic
Think: a MEAN (average) TONE system — it takes an average between pure intervals to make the overall harmony sound better.
Conceptual Metaphor
TUNING IS A COMPROMISE; HISTORICAL PRACTICE IS A DEPARTURE.
Practice
Quiz
What is the primary musical interval compromised (made smaller) in a standard meantone system?