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Pythagorean comma


In musical tuning, the Pythagorean comma (or ditonic comma), named after the ancient mathematician and philosopher Pythagoras, is the small interval (or comma) existing in Pythagorean tuning between two enharmonically equivalent notes such as C and B (About this sound Play ), or D and C. It is equal to the frequency ratio 531441:524288, or approximately 23.46 cents, roughly a quarter of a semitone (in between 75:74 and 74:73). The comma which musical temperaments often refer to tempering is the Pythagorean comma.

The Pythagorean comma can be also defined as the difference between a Pythagorean apotome and a Pythagorean limma (i.e., between a chromatic and a diatonic semitone, as determined in Pythagorean tuning), or the difference between twelve just perfect fifths and seven octaves, or the difference between three Pythagorean ditones and one octave (this is the reason why the Pythagorean comma is also called a ditonic comma).


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