Comparing intervals using cents

We will explain how to calculate cents later, for now we will give an example of interval comparison using cents.

Temeperament	C4	E4	Cents
Major third, Pitagorean tuning	260	329.06	408
Major third, just intonation	260	325	386

There's a difference of 22 cents (408 - 386 = 22) between the thirds (thanks to the magic of cents, we calculate the difference by subtraction). In equal temperament, a half-step has 100 cents. So the difference between thirds is almost 1/4 semitone. The use of cents helps to visualise the difference between intervals.

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