Another Delurker

I have been on this list for several weeks. but this is my first post.

I teach at Syracuse University School of Music where I actually enjoy
running the ear training program. I have always been interested in just
intonation (in high school, I would get together with friends just for
tuning sessions) and did study with Ben Johnston at Northwestern in the
mid 80s (Ben came up from Urbana two days a week for a couple of years
after he had retired, and before he moved east.)

I have written several works that show my fascination with the harmonic
series, especially partials 7 and 11. For example, My _Symphony for Winds
and Percussion_ (which has been played hundreds of times) ends with a
final chord of Eb, F, G, A (quarter flat), Bb, which is, of course,
partials 8 through 12.

More recently, I have turned my attentions to the piano, and have devised
a system of just intonation where the diatonic notes are derived from just
triads on C, F and G and Bb, Ab and Eb are all tuned to 'blue thirds'
(7:6 minor thirds) and F# and C# are tuned to the 11th partials of C and G
respectively. (Actually, it's a little more complicated than this, since
I use the concept of a divided keyboard, and the sharps below middle C are
tuned differently, since higher partials down there seem less useful to
me.)

I also now teach intervals to my freshmen in just intonation. I figure
that, since few of them are keyboardists, why should I teach them an
equal-tempered Major third (which sounds so bad) when they should really
be trying for 5/4 thirds. They have responded positively, and I think
that the ensembles play more in tune for this training.

I also give them harmonic dictations in Just intonation, again, so that
they have real in-tune playing as a model. I have to plan out my
dictations to avoid 'wolfs' (wolves? ), but it seems worth the effort.
Most students have expressed support for this.

I did have an interesting experience with this: One student with a
'golden ear' made an error on his final exam (his only error all semester
on a dictation). I had played a just perfect fifth, and the two notes
blended so well that he could not distinguish them apart, and could only
guess what the interval might be (he guessed a P4th.) (I wish that all
my students had problems like this!)

Enough! I look forward to participating.

Joe Downing,
in Syracuse


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