If someone is singing badly we always say they’re flat, but at least some of the time (to my ear) they are actually singing sharp.
Why do we always say someone is singing flat, is it just convenient or is there a music theory reason for it?
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Music teacher here.
We’re generally able to hear when notes are flat easier than if they’re sharp. Not everyone, but because of the way we tune our instruments and chords and such, being a little flat can actually be a benefit.
In my experience it’s generally more common to go sharp, but that tends to have more of a “bright” feeling to a lot of folks rather than sounding just “out of tune”. In college I worked with elementary schoolers and did lots of ear training stuff with them, and they tended to respond more negatively to diminished quality chords compared to augmented, which means there could be some correlation.
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