Keyboard

Music Scales

MUSIC KEYBOARD

The keyboard only works with the latest Java Plug-In.

Build your own well-tampered keyboard. Input the frequency in hertz for each key of your board. Round off to the nearest integer. Click on the key to hear its tone. You may need to click a key a few times to get things started. Checking the Harmonic checkbox adds an octave harmonic to the fundamental tone.

Key 12 is concert A 440. Key 0 is the A an octave lower. Key 24 is the A an octave higher. Our standard chromatic scale is built on the geometric progression A·rⁿ, where A = 220, r = 2^1/12, and n = the number of the note on the keyboard 0 to 24. Can you build a well-tempered scale with 7 tones rather than 12? Hint: let r = 2^1/7. What about one with 5 tones? 8 tones? 11 tones?