Tuning a harpsichord in Bach's temperament - Bradley Lehman

Tuning a harpsichord (cembalo, clavecin) in just a few minutes, by ear, using the tuning sequence I believe is illustrated on the title page of Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier (1722).

Research by Bradley Lehman, 2004, continuing a doctoral project from 1993-4 in "modified meantone" tuning as applied to Bach's music. The interpretation is based on analysis of Bach's extant keyboard music, plus a historical study of tuning methods, plus (in 2004) the suspiciously irregular drawing on Bach's title page.

This research was first published in an _Early Music_ (Oxford University Press journal) article, February-May 2005. Two printed portions and five web files comprise that article.

This hands-on demonstration: 2007, Bradley Lehman at home. Flemish-style harpsichord built by Anne Acker.

For full details about this tuning method and its musical implications, see http://www.larips.com . Articles, CDs, free online samples, links to additional resources. The articles show how Bach's drawing is mapped to the notes in the tuning sequence.

F-C-G-D-A-E 5ths (or 4ths) double-tempered; E-B-F#-C# pure 5ths/4ths; C#-G#-D#-A# single-tempered (very slight).

I believe this specific unequal tuning method was Bach's intention for at least that book of music, the Well-Tempered Clavier, playing music in all 24 major and minor keys.

Time to set up the temperament by ear, from a single tuning fork: about 5 minutes. Time to do the entire instrument: about 8 to 20 minutes. As reported by Bach's son Carl Philipp Emanuel, it never cost JSB more than a quarter hour for the whole thing. (Get the tuning done quickly so there's more time left for playing or improvising! And it's going to be stable for only a day or two anyway, with normal weather fluctuations, so it's good to develop an efficiency of setting and maintaining this quickly.)

Also check my other YouTube videos for examples of music played with this tuning: harpsichord and organ. Various full-length CDs are available, played by me and others variously on harpsichords, organs, and fortepianos. http://www-personal.umich.edu/~bpl/larips/recordings.html

Category:

Howto & Style

Tags:

• music
• johann
• sebastian
• bach
• lehman
• harpsichord
• tuning
• temperament
• tempering
• clavecin
• cembalo
• well
• tempered
• clavier
• how

[retiredsk8tr1953]

Thanks.  Great demo! Is it the Ditonic or Syntonic comma divided here?

[thebpl]

@retiredsk8tr1953 Ditonic (or Pythagorean) comma

[mrmolinodelahoz]

I like very much your technique and style of playing music. The tuning varints drives me crazy and I finally setteled on equal tones. If I were playing Bach´s art of fuge all in d I would make a mean tune to work in that one key. All perfect intervals for d. Also some harpsichords have false vibrations and do not reveal their true relationships. Who knows why?

[thebpl]

Thanks! Incidentally, the Art of Fugue does NOT work well in meantone. I play all of it, and I recorded Contrapunctus 3 on my CD demonstrating this temperament.

Meantone doesn't work because the music goes beyond the ordinary 12 notes (Eb-Bb-F-C-G-D-A-E-B-F#-C#-G#) in both directions. For example, Cp 3 requires 16: those 12, plus Ab, Db, D#, and A#. Whenever those 4 notes come up, if it's tuned in meantone, it's suddenly horribly dissonant.

Maybe I'll make a demo video of that sometime.

[rickisteiner]

Is that the same steps for doing equal temperament on a piano?, asks my piano-tuner fiance.

[thebpl]

No, this is a different temperament. It happens to work very well on pianos, too, but it's not equal.

[wandalewlandowska]

Post Script: I love the cat on the harpsichord!

[nrvstorm]

I'm a modern (equal temperament) tuner who is enjoying this temperament for a McNulty fortepiano. So Tormodal, it is within the 'scope of my experience'.

[rodstartube]

that looks like an already tempered cat

[shiningnight73]

I'm just one more guy taught in music school that well-tempered=equal tempered. Just found your article on the diagram on the WTC title page. Incredible that this was overlooked for so long! Really, really cool. Thanks, man! Bach is even MORE genius than I already knew.

[shobarsch]

cat likes meantone

[MrMaestro14231]

why are the colors of the keys on your harpsichord inside-out?

[iluvspam6]

Oh, Brad you make me laugh. Hitting yourself in the head when there is a perfectly (!?!?!) good cat sitting RIGHT THERE to "use" instead... I didn't REALLY call a cat "good", did I? Ah, Bach. You ROCK!!!!!! And how is it that the tuning of the temperament is your highest viewed video. Put something on here that we'll watch (and share) over and over again. And how does "Freebird" sound on this????

[RoboticusMusic]

my cat jives with its tippy tail like that too.

[karlmahlmann]

Very informative video. I take it there is no "octave stretching" on a harpsichord as is common in piano tuning. Again, very nice presentation.