LESSON VIII.

~THE TEMPERAMENT.~

Some tuners favor the term, "laying the bearings," others say "setting
the temperament." The former is more commonplace, as it merely
suggests the idea of laying a number of patterns by which all others
are to be measured. The latter term is extremely comprehensive. A
lucid definition of the word "temperament," in the sense in which it
is used here, would require a discourse of considerable length. The
following statements will elicit the full meaning of the term:

The untutored would, perhaps, not think of setting a temperament to
tune by. He would likely begin at some unfavorable point, and tune by
various intervals, relying wholly upon his conception of pitch for the
accuracy of the tones tuned, the same as a violinist in tuning his
four strings. To be sure, pitch has to be reckoned as a rude guide in
setting the tones; but if pitch alone were the guide we would never
attain to any degree of perfection in scale forming. We could never
adjust our tones to that delicate fineness so much appreciated, which
gives to the instrument its surpassing brilliancy.

~Beats, Waves, Pulsations.~--To obtain absolute accuracy the tuner is
guided by beats, waves or pulsations. These three words refer to one
and the same thing, a phenomenon that occurs in certain intervals when
two tones are sounded together that are not in exact tune. These terms
must not be confounded with the term "sound wave" or "vibrations" so
often used in discussions on the theory of sound. However, we think
the student is thoroughly familiar with these terms. The rate of