Definition of Stretched tuning
Stretched tuning is a detail of musical tuning, applied to wire-stringed musical instruments, older, non-digital electric pianos (such as the Fender Rhodes piano and Wurlitzer electric piano), and some sample-based synthesizers based on these instruments, to accommodate the natural inharmonicity of their vibrating elements. In stretched tuning, two notes an octave apart, whose fundamental frequencies theoretically have an exact 2:1 ratio, are tuned slightly farther apart (a stretched octave). If the frequency ratios of octaves are greater than a factor of 2, the tuning is stretched; if smaller than a factor of 2, it is compressed."
Melodic stretch refers to tunings with fundamentals stretched relative to each other, while harmonic stretch refers to tunings with harmonics stretched relative to fundamentals which are not stretched. For example, the piano features both stretched harmonics and, to accommodate those, stretched fundamentals.
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Frequently asked questions
What is Stretched tuning?
Stretched tuning is a detail of musical tuning, applied to wire-stringed musical instruments, older, non-digital electric pianos (such as the Fender Rhodes piano and Wurlitzer electric piano), and some sample-based synthesizers based on these instruments, to…