Sing <on pitch> <in tune>

[Komalan]

Hi

If you wish to be a professional singer, you should learn to sing _______.

1. on pitch 2. in tune

Both options can be used in this context. Am I right?

 

[cidertree]

Yes.

What's the source of the question please?

 

[heypresto]

I think I've only ever heard and used 'in tune', but it appears 'on pitch' is also used.

 

[Komalan]

Yes.

What's the source of the question please?

Thank ❤🌹🙏

Well, I'm a music teacher and I wanted to tell my students that they should learn to sing on pitch or in tune. I think I can also ask them to "sing in the key." Am I right?

 

[Komalan]

I think I've only ever heard and used 'in tune', but it appears 'on pitch' is also used.

Yes, I think so. I think we can also say "sing in the key."
Thank you ❤🌹🙏

 

[cidertree]

In some circumstances, perhaps. Sing in key, to me, means the same as sing on pitch/in tune.

 

[Komalan]

In some circumstances, perhaps. Sing in key, to me, means the same as sing on pitch/in tune.

Oh yes! "Singing in key."
Thank you ❤🌹🙏

 

[Rover_KE]

I was a music teacher for 40 years. I only ever said and heard anybody else say 'sing in tune'. I suggest you stick to that.

See the Ngram.

 

[Myridon]

I was a music teacher for 40 years. I only ever said and heard anybody else say 'sing in tune'. I suggest you stick to that.

See the Ngram.

As is typical for English, the winner for the opposite meaning is "sing off key." I sing in tune, but you sing off key.

 

[broche]

Hi

If you wish to be a professional singer, you should learn to sing _______.

1. on pitch 2. in tune

Both options can be used in this context. Am I right?

Yes, probably.

I'd say:
If you want to be a professional singer, you should learn to sing on key, be on pitch, and be in tune.

? There are professional singers here.

 

[Komalan]

I was a music teacher for 40 years. I only ever said and heard anybody else say 'sing in tune'. I suggest you stick to that.

See the Ngram.

This song is in D minor, so you need to sing in key and remember that the B note is flat.
We can use "sing in key" in this context, can't we?

 

[Rover_KE]

I wouldn't.

I might say 'This song is in D minor, so you need to remember to sing B flat – not B natural'.'

 

[Komalan]

Yes, probably.

I'd say:
If you want to be a professional singer, you should learn to sing on key, be on pitch, and be in tune.

? There are professional singers here.

Why "on key?" A key has a set of notes. We say "This song is "in" B minor, not "on B minor."

According to Google,
Singing in Key however means that the notes we are singing fall in a particular set of notes that are predefined. The Key of C for example uses all the white keys on a piano and none of the black keys (also known as “accidentals”.) Any deviation from that set of notes is considered to be out of key.

 

[Myridon]

A key has a set of notes.

A key is also a thing on a piano that plays a single note. Words have more than one meaning. Idioms often use words in ways that aren't directly related to meaning. "Why" is often not a very useful question in language. The people who started a usage may have been dead for a long time. People don't write down in history books the reason that they started saying one thing instead of another.
People who are singing off-key are generally singing not on the exact pitch on every note that the sing. It doesn't mean that they are forgetting how many flats or sharps are in the key signature of the piece of paper that they are looking at. Singing is not like playing the piano or other instruments that play exact notes.