cracked note
Singer's embarrassing moment
A cracked note is a vocal or instrumental tone that breaks, wavers, or fails to sound cleanly—often from strain, inexperience, or a damaged instrument.
Singers crack on high notes when their voice can't sustain the pitch smoothly.
His voice cracked on the final note of the anthem.
The term applies literally to music and figuratively to any moment of faltering: Her composure showed a cracked note when she mentioned his name.
- sourSharp, biting taste
- flatLacking vertical variation
- off-keyWrong pitch, musically
- out of tuneNot at correct pitch
- waveringShowing unsteady resolve
broken · squeak · voice · pitch · strain · vocal strain · faltering · quaver · trembling · missed · sharp · singing · wobble · chipped · fractured · slip · brass · brass instrument
- stage mishapsmissed cue, line flub, tripping, stumble, trip
- audio flawsclipping, distortion, hum, buzz, hiss