OK Here is a simple explanation


On A piano,you change the key of a song and it will change the way it sounds simply because on a piano the scale is tempered so that all the notes will "sound right to your ear". There is a system. You can not tune every note on a piano to the correct mathematical frequency all the way up the keyboard. If you use a C note in a chord CEG that same E note also has to "sound right" in an E chord E Ab B so you have to cheat a little. All those little harmonics will blend differently. So you change the key and it will sound different. You almost can't really put your finger on it. Maybe not quite as"full"

Now translate this to a simple 16 note scale on an accordion and temper becomes less of an issue because not as many keys are involved.

I left out quite a bit trying to keep this simple. Best wishes to all, Jerry

actually a correctly tuned piano should not
have any differences that are due to the key

it;s called 'equal temperament' tuning
all the intervals are supposed to be the same

which makes them all sound slightly out of
tune, but not by a different amount for different
keys

there are lots of other ways to tune
instruments like pianos, and any other one
will be what you said, but those aren;t the
standard today

200 years ago it was a different story
everyone had their own tuning method
and keys would sound differently out or in tune

wle

Actually Larry you are just dead wrong.

Larry is correct in what he says. By the way, I don't think he was contradicting you, maybe just saying things in a different way.

I heard a recording of a pipe organ that was tuned using the "just" system rather than the now standard "equal" system. I believe it was tuned so that in the key of C they had the mathematically correct ratios for all the white keys. They played a tune in C, which sounded perfect - in fact it sounded better than it did in "equal" tuning. Then, they transposed it to different keys. I think they went around the circle of fifths. As they got farther around the circle it began to sound worse and worse - like a broken down calliope!

In the equal system, every key is equally wrong, by a consistently small amount. A Cajun accordion only has notes for one key, therefore it is fine for it to be just tuned, which tends to make it sound a little better and maybe a little louder. I have been told that barbershop quartets sing in perfect "just" tuned intervals for the same reasons, and that some violin players might make small intonation adjustments in order to get perfect intervals.

-David

Hello all :-)

In the spirit of being perfectly pedantic :-)
(and having some *fun* with this topic ..)

Being from an Engineering discipline, I recall
the evenly tempered scale as each note being
the twelfth-root-of-two higher than its predecessor.

And as Larry states, a piano is always out of tune,
because of this tempering. G-sharp and A-flat are
technically two different pitches depending what key
that you're playing in. Only a fretless instrument
can be played in tune!

(I always wondered why my guitar sounded like that!)

Further more, if you don't care what notes constitute
a specific song, yes you can play any song in any key
on a Cajun accordion

And wait .. there’s even more .. I was just talking
with Mark Savoy last week. He tells me that two
notes on the scale of the Cajun box are indeed tuned
15 cents flat.

How about that for confusing units .. pitch
in “cents”!

“Yes, can you please tune my accordion
a buck-two-fifty .. I think I'm 3 quid flat!"

Seriously though, thinking in the key of "push"
and the key of "pull" is a very good place to start
with the Cajun Accordion!

Just keep squeezin'!

-Big Nick

um, about what?

it is certainly possible to tune a piano
so that every interval is close enough to
the 12th root of 2 ratio

that;s how they do it - that;s 'the system'

if you do that, there is no reason for any
key to sound out of tune more than another

that is the very reason for the
'equal tempered' scale


[yes i know that is an irrational number
but the ear doesn;t have infinite resolution.]

[and yes i also know that on a piano, which
has a 7 octave range, the very highest and
lowest notes have to be made somewhat sharper
than 'correct' notes, because the actual
correct ones sound flat - but that;s not
what he was talking
about]

wle.

Larry,

You responding to me? .. I didn't say "wrong",
I was agreeing with you ..

--Big

no, i was asking jerry tierney
what he thought i was wrong about

the forum format makes it a little hard to
see what the replies are actually to..

wle.

" Notes? There are no notes. You just play the **** thing".

Old banjo player quote.

Thank you, that's a quote I'll live by.

Big Nick, I'm pretty sure Larry was replying to Jerry.

Thanks for all the replies. I guess I am like Ron since my world used to be a 5 string and a bass fiddle. Throw on a capo on the 5 string and play the same song in a different key.
So the bottom line here, if I am reading this right is, If you like a song, find out what key its in and then grab the box that can play in that key. If that is correct,what key boxes do you guys that perform have?
Thanks again for your patience in this matter as I dont have a lick of music training.