The definition of song faults in American Singer canaries is different from that used in other breeds of song bred canaries which have a standardized song. In those breeds, notes sung in an "incorrect" manner are considered faults while those same notes may be considered variety in an American Singer canary.

There are song faults such as shrillness, breaking off, sticking, and a variety of other things that can cause the song to be downgraded by a judge. If a particular part of a bird’s song is annoying to you, consider it a fault. If the bird’s song seems to cut off rather than flowing to a logical conclusion, he needs a better ending. If the song cuts off in the middle, that’s breaking off – sometimes that is genetic, but sometimes it is a bad habit a bird will develop. Holding (sometimes called sticking) is when a bird sounds like a broken record and sings the same note over and over again. Holding is more common later in the show season as males are beginning to come into breeding condition so it is not always a fault in the sense that it is in the song to stay, though sometimes it can be genetic or habitual.

Not all song faults are major – some are minor while some are cause for automatic rejection. Once in a while a bird just needs time to work through it (especially young birds that are developing their song), but one must be very careful as one bad note can pollute your entire flock. I spent three years eliminating a bad note brought in with a bird that never even bred, but taught that annoying note to every male in the room! American Singers are amazing mimics and they will pick up a bad note faster than you would believe if you have not witnessed it. Whip those faulty birds out of your bird room as quickly as you can and segregate your Singers from other kinds of birds if at all possible.

This is by no means an exhaustive discussion of song faults.

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