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How to construct a well-tempered musical scale
November 13th 2025
10
Western music after the Renaissance is almost exclusively on a well-tempered scale. This is a scale of 12 notes constructed from a circle of 5ths.
You will need:
1. Stretch the string over wood and pull tight, tying the ends
This needs to be as large as you can, starting with the lowest note you will need.
2. Stretch the next string over a piece of wood two thirds the length of the first
This will provide an interval of a fifth above the first string.
3. Tune to an octave lower
Take a length of wood as long as the first, and tune the note from the wood which is two-thirds the length but an octave lower.
4. Repeat the above a number of times
By creating a number of these strings tuned a fifth apart, the scale can be covered.
5. Intermediate notes on one string
Make marks on the wood at a length ratio of 2:3, which gives the full range of notes within the same octave.
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