Just intonation music

1. What is just intonation in music?
2. Do singers sing in just intonation?
3. What is wrong with just intonation?
4. Is just intonation better?

What is just intonation in music?

Just intonation, in music, system of tuning in which the correct size of all the intervals of the scale is calculated by different additions and subtractions of pure natural thirds and fifths (the intervals that occur between the fourth and fifth, and second and third tones, respectively, of the natural harmonic series ...

Do singers sing in just intonation?

A singer singing solfeg a cappella will sing it in just intonation - if they're singing perfectly in tune with themselves. Same with a capella choral music - just intonation. But if singing with instruments, will tune to the instruments. (Assuming instruments are in tune).

What is wrong with just intonation?

Just intonation is extremely impractical for instruments that play chords (guitar or piano), or any instrument with fixed pitches which cannot bend, such as vibraphone or marimba. How many keys do you want in an octave on your keyboard? In the Baroque period, 12-tone equal temperament had not yet been invented.

Is just intonation better?

“Better sharp than out of tune.” Just intonation is, many believe, a more “pure” way of tuning and offers greater timbral and sonic possibilities than equal-temperament—the de facto form of intonation in Western music today. ...