Editing Regular temperament (section)

[[Image:Rank-2 temperaments with the generator close to a fifth and period an octave.jpg|right|250px|thumb|Some example linear temperaments with the generator close to a fifth. "linear temperaments" are regular temperaments of rank two, with one generator as shown, and the other generator the octave. (Milne 2007).]]

A '''regular temperament''' is any [[Musical temperament|tempered]] system of [[musical tuning]] such that each frequency ratio is obtainable as a product of powers of a finite number of '''generators''', or generating frequency ratios. For instance, in [[12-TET]], the system of music most commonly used in the Western world, the generator is a tempered fifth (700 cents), which is the basis behind the [[circle of fifths]].

When only two generators are needed, with one of them the octave, this is sometimes called a "linear temperament". The best-known example of linear temperaments are [[meantone temperament|meantone temperaments]], where the generating intervals are usually given in terms of a slightly flattened fifth and the octave. Other linear temperaments include the [[schismatic temperament]] of [[Hermann von Helmholtz]] and [[miracle temperament]].