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patrickintheforest
Member
I have heard one explanation as follows.
Before we all started using 12 Tone Equal Temperament, all the frequencies were mathematically correct. Nice simple ratios of the frequencies. But there were other problems in that to play in another key you would have to retune the piano. So a compromise was made in using 12 Tone Equal Temperament. So you could now play in any key without retuning your instrument. But of the nice simple ratios of the various intervals, most are now not accurate (with the exception of the octave), but you would have a job to hear the error. The only other intervals that are still accurate are the fourth and the fifth, so they are referred to as perfect.
Is this explanation true or is there another reason?
Before we all started using 12 Tone Equal Temperament, all the frequencies were mathematically correct. Nice simple ratios of the frequencies. But there were other problems in that to play in another key you would have to retune the piano. So a compromise was made in using 12 Tone Equal Temperament. So you could now play in any key without retuning your instrument. But of the nice simple ratios of the various intervals, most are now not accurate (with the exception of the octave), but you would have a job to hear the error. The only other intervals that are still accurate are the fourth and the fifth, so they are referred to as perfect.
Is this explanation true or is there another reason?
