Learn to Sing in Tune and Test Your Pitch

Test your pitch in two minutes

1. Open the Pitch tab and allow microphone access.
2. Sing a comfortable note on an open vowel such as “ah”: a line appears on the grid.
3. Choose the “Hold a note” exercise: the note is played, then hold it for five seconds.
4. Read the result: percentage of time within 25 cents, average deviation and drift.
5. Repeat on three or four notes across your range to get a reliable picture.

What does singing out of tune actually mean?

Singing in tune means producing the target pitch with a deviation small enough that the ear doesn't notice, and holding it. The deviation is measured in cents: a semitone is 100 cents. Around 10 cents, most listeners hear nothing on a single note; beyond 20 to 30 cents, being off pitch often becomes audible, especially next to an instrument.

The most common problems don't come from a “bad ear”: a voice that sags slightly flat at the end of a phrase from lack of breath support, an attack from below that slides up to the note, or a misjudged interval. Each one shows up clearly on a graph, and each one can be worked on.

Reading the pitch graph

The graph shows your pitch over time in a 5, 10 or 30 second window, with note lines in the background. A flat line on a note means a steady note; a ramp at the start shows a sliding attack; a regular wave means vibrato.

You can snap the grid to a scale: major, natural or harmonic minor, major or minor pentatonic. The grid then lines up with the notes of that scale, which makes it easier to read when you are working on a melody in a given key.

The exercises

• Hold a note: stability, with the percentage of time within ±25 cents, average deviation and drift.
• Match a note: listen, then sing it back after a short silence; the deviation of your first stable second is measured.
• Scale and arpeggio: follow the target notes as they scroll by, with a score for each note.
• Interval: a starting note is played, then sing the requested interval above it; your result is compared with both the just and the equal-tempered interval.
• Siren: glide up and down your whole voice to estimate your vocal range, with an indicative voice type to be taken with caution.
• Sing over a drone: a tonic-and-fifth drone gives you a harmonic reference. Headphones are recommended so the drone doesn't interfere with the measurement.
• Vibrato: its rate in hertz and its width in cents.

A simple practice routine

Consistency matters more than duration. Ten minutes a day gets better results than an hour on Sunday. Here is a sample session to adapt to your level:

• Warm-up: two gentle sirens, from low to high, without straining.
• Stability: “Hold a note” on three notes in your middle range, aiming first for 60% of the time within ±25 cents, then more.
• Ear: “Match a note” five times, on varied notes.
• Harmony: one major scale, then two or three intervals, starting with the fifth and the octave.
• Music: a few minutes over the drone, improvising or singing a melody you know.

Just or equal-tempered?

A piano is tuned in equal temperament, where all semitones are identical. An a cappella voice or a choir naturally tends toward just intervals, based on simple frequency ratios. A just major third, for example, is about 14 cents lower than an equal-tempered one.

That is why the interval exercise shows both references: if your third lands close to the just value, you didn't sing out of tune, you sang pure.

For instrumentalists too

Violinists, trombonists and anyone playing an instrument with free pitch can use the graph and the exercises. Wind instruments also get a note-by-note intonation chart that can be exported as an image. Your results history stays stored on your device.