Analysis Course 9 · Professional

Equal temperament as a reference map

Rank cent deviations, locate conspicuous degrees, and test their effect on intervals and keys.

Station 1 of 6

Equal temperament is the reference

In professional practice, equal temperament is usually the familiar reference. Read every value as the historical system’s deviation from ET, not as absolute purity.

Keep two reference points apart

Tuning root C fixes the temperament pattern; A4 = 440 Hz fixes absolute pitch. Thus A reads 0 cents while C may still differ from ET. Positive means higher than ET, negative means lower.

Working rule: first find the largest absolute values, then test which intervals and chords those displaced degrees create.