The Influence of Harmoniccontext on the Tuning of Thirds Played by Professional Flautists

Abstract

The aim of this study is to investigate how professional orchestral musicians perform major and minor thirds in different harmonic contexts. The intervals were recorded simultaneously, in the most natural acoustic conditions possible, by four professional flautists. The fundamental frequencies of thepitches were determined from the digital recording by Fourier transformation with a spectrum analysis programme. The intention of this was measurement precision of < 1 cent. The measured width of the intervals are compared with their pure, Pythagorean and equal tempered equivalents. The results show that, with major thirds and independent of the harmonic context, the pure tuning is preferred. With minor thirds, pure tuning prevails over equal temperamenttuning when the interval occurs within a harmonic context, such as a major triad or a dominant seventh chord. The Pythagorean tuning fares worse in terms of intonation in the performance of both intervals.