The Just Intonation Primer

“The simple-ratio intervals upon which Just Intonation is based are special auditory relationships that the human auditory system is able to detect and distinguish from one another and from a host of more complex stimuli. They are what the human auditory system recognizes as consonance, if it ever has the opportunity to hear them in a musical context. For the last two hundred years Western music has been burdened with the equal temperament tuning system, in which all of the supposed consonances, except the octave, deviate significantly from their optimal integer-ratio forms. In the late 1970s and early 1980s the number of composers working with Just Intonation began to increase. The availability of electronic instruments with programmable tuning made it possible for composers to experiment with a variety of different tuning systems without having to invent and build novel instruments or to train performers in unusual playing techniques. But colleges, universities, and conservatories continue to teach a curriculum based on equal temperament, in which students interested in alternate tunings are unlikely to receive much support, encouragement, or practical instruction. The purpose of this book is to provide basic information and skills necessary to read and comprehend intermediate and advanced texts such as Henry Partch’s Genesis of Music, and to prepare the reader to begin independent study and composition. (from the Introduction)