What if the piano — the instrument sitting in every choir room in America — is quietly teaching your singers to sing out of tune?
I rehearse a cappella. From the first day of rehearsal to the final product, no piano. I’ve been saying it for years, and I catch heat for it. So when I read Ross Duffin’s article in the Choral Journal, “Chasing Perfection: Better Harmonic Tuning for Choirs,” I knew I had to get him on the show. He makes the case better than I ever could, and he brings the math to back it up.
Today on the show, I’m joined by Ross W. Duffin, Distinguished University Professor and Fynette H. Kulas Professor of Music Emeritus at Case Western Reserve University, and founding artistic director emeritus of Quire Cleveland. Ross has spent decades studying historical tuning and temperament, and he’s the author of How Equal Temperament Ruined Harmony (and Why You Should Care).
In this conversation, Ross and I dig into why equal temperament’s big compromise lands right on top of the triads our choirs sing every day — the major third is simply too wide, and we’ve all just gotten used to the “beating.” We talk about the three simple precepts that fix most tuning problems, the common mistakes choir directors make when they chase better intonation, and why teaching singers to match the piano is teaching them the wrong version of every note. Here is my conversation with Ross Duffin.
Whether you rehearse with a piano or without one, this is a conversation that will change the way you listen to your choir. Tune in, and let’s keep the dialogue going!
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Ross W. Duffin is Distinguished University Professor and Fynette H. Kulas Professor of Music Emeritus at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, where he taught for four decades. He is the founding artistic director emeritus of Quire Cleveland, a professional early music choir, and the author of How Equal Temperament Ruined Harmony (and Why You Should Care) and Shakespeare’s Songbook.
Links
- Ross Duffin’s supplemental materials for the Choral Journal article — further reading and listening, just intonation exercises, and videos of Quire Cleveland singing in historical temperaments: https://acda-publications.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/CJ/JuneJuly2026/SupplementalMaterials.pdf
- How Equal Temperament Ruined Harmony (and Why You Should Care), W. W. Norton: https://wwnorton.com/books/9780393334203
- “Chasing Perfection: Better Harmonic Tuning for Choirs,” Choral Journal, Vol. 66, No. 9 (June/July 2026)
• Info about singing with me at Carnegie Hall next April
• The album that I just put out with the University of Southern Maine
• Pattern in the Pandemonium
• My social media on Instagram and TikTok
• The new Phoenix Chorale album coming out soon that features my music (FORGOT TO TALK ABOUT THIS BUT IT’S COOL! lol) (More info here)
@choralosophypodca