Pythagorean vs. Equally Tempered

In the western world of music, there is a commonly used system of tuning for an instrument, called equally tempered tuning. However, this was not always the system in use. Before equal tempered tuning, there was the Pythagoras scale, developed about 2,500 years ago by Pythagoras. Although Pythagoras' scale sounded very natural, it had a flaw. Over time, more complex instruments were created that could reach higher octaves, where the flaw became too obvious to ignore. While equal tempered tuning fixed the error, some qualities were also lost. …