Editing Short octave (section)

===Second type===
A second type of short octave used the keys
:B C{{Music|#}} D{{Music|#}} C D E F{{Music|#}} G
to play the [[G major]] scale
:G A B C D E F{{Music|#}} G.
Here, the exotic bass notes C{{Music|#}} and D{{Music|#}} are sacrificed to obtain the more essential G and A. The notation for the pitch range of such an instrument is "G/B". The following diagram illustrates this kind of short octave:

:[[File:ShortOctaveOnG.PNG|200px|none]]

In stringed instruments like the harpsichord, the short octave system created a defect: the strings which were tuned to mismatch their keyboard notes were in general too short to sound the reassigned note with good tone quality. To reach the lower pitch, the strings had to be thickened, or tuned too slack. During the 17th and 18th centuries, harpsichord builders gradually increased the size and bass range of their instruments to the point where every bass note could be properly played with its own key.

Short octaves were very common in the early [[Organ (music)|organ]]. Here, the practice would not have yielded poor tone quality (since the associated pipes would have to be built with the correct length in any event). Far more than on stringed instruments the financial savings would have been quite considerable, as the long pipes entailed quite an expense, even in materials alone. But as harmonic music developed more complexity in the late 17th and 18th centuries and the desire arose for completely chromatic bass octaves, short octaves ultimately came to be abandoned in organs as well.