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Safe ways to belt people? (All Teachers)
Safe ways to belt people?
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16 Replies
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A comma would definitely save lives here.
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Wear gloves, could injure yourself otherwise
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Don’t use the metal end.
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Lol. In answer to your question, I teach belt by getting people to tap into the sound of calling out (I believe it’s anatomically nearly identical in terms of the coordination of everything – unless Matt disagrees with me…). I’ll start with a really low and comfortable “hey”, which we then build up in volume and pitch till we’re really calling out. The key thing is to make sure that the vocal fold closure is nice and consistent throughout, no unintentional growling. Then I formalise the pitch into an 8 note scale alternating between “hey” and “ha”. Then if we’re applying belt to a particular song, I get them to call out the song lyrics on pitch then get them to make the jump to making the sound more “musical”. I often use elements of Alexander Technique to help release any unnecessary neck tension. Hope that helps.
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Yes it does! Thanks. I imagine making the sound more nasal helps as well?
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Yea that twangy sound in particular.
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I LIKE it.
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Another great trick is to stick the tongue out as far as possible. It’ll encourage a nice open throat if the pupil tends to have a lot of constriction.
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Oooh, one of my favourite topics. Chris is definitely right in recommending that there be no grit/distortion/breathiness in a belted sound. The twang is a crucial component, although I wouldn’t recommend nasality for belting. It gets the student to over-associate belting with nasality, which will lead to confusion in the long run.
I’m a big fan of using a good deal of thyroid tilt in a belt to make it safer. It thins the folds, demanding less power while also increasing note accuracy. It’s a kind of magically easy way of making notes easier – a proper Yoda move.
And it can still sound crazy awesome.
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(For those unanointed by the holy water of Estill, the thyroid tilt can be engaged by cry-y, whiny, sobby qualities. Check out Gillyanne Kayes’ book Voice and the Actor for a great explanation.)
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I always just call it the gorilla sound, or try and sound like a bloke yet staying high (for the girls!) that’s cool as I’m doing a lot of what’s being mentioned already..!
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Nice! Though I would definitely recommend finesse over force when it comes to belting.
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Yeah sometimes I can’t get the balance right as they push a little too hard. I mostly just try to demonstrate the gorilla (thyroid tilt in posh language?!) in the way that it can be effortless although well projected without just shouting
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My student who needed assistance with the above wants to thank Chris for the tongue sticking out idea as she immediately noticed that it helped. We are currently doing sobby singing too which is proving to be very effective!
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Yay! And I love sobby singing.
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Belting can easily turn into shouting.The student must be technically correct in all dynamics of singing and able to use open throat technique with a dropped larynx….for safety.Much the same as a dramatic tenor uses the voice for power,.Breathing technique from the core is essential.Hope this helps.
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