The Harpsichord Meets the First Fret (and Other Tuning Practicalities)

Abstract:A harpsichordist and a viola da gamba player who choose to work together will inevitably encounter the related problems of choosing a temperament for the harpsichord and positioning the gamba's frets. A strong solution balances the sometimes-conflicting needs of making the music sound good and finding practical fret positions; while frets can be moved and angled, they do have to be straight lines. The article delves into specific issues for the music of J. S. Bach, providing general background on how temperaments work and focusing on a detailed analysis with three different temperaments. One of the selected temperaments is the author's preferred choice; one is well documented from the time of Bach; and one is a speculation of how Bach actually tuned, based on a diagram by Bach himself. Equal temperament, while a viable solution and arguably the easiest to set up on the gamba, is not included except in passing, since it is felt that it does not serve the sound of the music sufficiently well. The situation of a harpsichordist and a violinist working together in the absence of the constraint of frets is also explored, using the same three temperaments. Each temperament has characteristics that are compared objectively. Strengths and weaknesses are also viewed subjectively, since a solution must also satisfy personal preferences for how the music should sound to performers and how it should affect listeners. Explanatory charts, fret setup diagrams, and numeric tables supplement the descriptions. Summaries of the objective and subjective results of the practical work with harpsichord/gamba and harpsichord/violin combinations conclude the article.