Cable in the Classroom: H. Goodall's Big Bang #3
In this five-part program, British personality, composer and musician Howard Goodall reviews the history of music, making brief stops along the way to tell the story of individuals who achieved a seminal moment of music innovation a "big bang". In episode three Goodall discusses the invention of equal temperament in Western music. Equal temperament, which was first used in the late 17th century, is what Westerners today know as being 'in tune'. Because of this concept of a uniform tune in music, much non-Western music seems whiny to our ears. Goodall highlights this system's advantages and discusses equal temperament as one of our most destructive cultural exports.