So You Want to Learn About Belt...

 

Image by: Fredrick Brown | Credit: Getty Images

In the last twenty years, there has been much conversation around the concept of belting in singing. As a mainly classically trained musician, my knowledge and abilities on belting is limited but this week in vocal pedagogy we discovered and discussed healthy function of belt and how to create it in our own voices. When you listen to a musical theatre, folk, rock, or jazz, do you ever hear a very pingy sustained note that jumps out at you? If yes, then you might be hearing a vocalist producing belt. Belting is loosely defined as singing in your head voice but with the power from your chest voice. Healthy belting is also produced with a kind of trumpet-like intensity that makes the sounds seem to be very powerful without causing vocal fatigue or stress. It takes a good amount of breath support generated by a strong use of the abdominal muscles while singing.  

Belting has been around since before singing because it was originally produced by humans calling/yelling at their animals to come in from the fields in a farming occupation. It allows performers to convey emotion in addition to showing in their faces and hearing it in the voice. There are many factors that contribute to finding belt which include: alignment, anchoring, breath, laryngal position, resonance, and vowel choice. The combination of these will help build the right recipe for your voice on your journey to learn about belting. 


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