For the purpose of this blog, we will define "belting" loosely since there are still ongoing research as to how the belt can be taught safely and there are many disagreements between vocal coaches as to what it actually means.
Matthew Hoch in The Modern Singer defines belting as "a term that can refer to a style, register, and technique used by singers who perform in nonclassical styles."
Belting for any song can be subjective in terms of aesthetic. The style of belting most often associated with musical theatre emerged from the 1920s as something new with Ethal Merman being one of the singers who created a voice that "sounded like a trumpet." If we are to belt like this, the vocal tract configuration to make this sound needs to be met and that can be done by understanding more about vocal anatomy.
Here are 5 techniques to get that bold brassy belt out.
Understanding Vocal Mechanism
When we sing, we produce vibrations at the vocal folds. The vibrations happen due to air moving through that pulls the folds together and out (1 regular cycle). The way the vocal folds vibrate is known as Vocal Mechanism.
When I am teaching students, we need to go over the effort level you put upon the vocal folds and make sure that we are not in the extremes. For example, I encourage singers to allow their vocal folds to vibrate in a “flow” state, meaning the closure is happening cleanly without being too breathy or too pressed. We take this state into the belt as well to ensure we are not “pulling up the chest voice.” More about vocal registers later, since the terms “chest voice” and “head voice” are starting to be more and more unclear for singers and teachers.
When we want to belt, many times untrained and even trained singers want to press the vocal folds together too much, exerting effort beyond what is needed, resulting in vocal fatigue and undesirable singing quality. Therefore, we need to practice singing with firm vocal fold closure without maxing out our efforts. This will help us manage our airflow better too. Remember that belting is about reducing air pressure, not more. That’s why Bel Canto breathing technique does not work when we are approaching a “Pure Belt” in a song.
2. Soft Palate Lift (Vertical and Wide)
The soft palate is the soft part of the back of the roof of your mouth. It is responsible for preventing food and liquid from entering the nasal passages.
By lifting the soft palate, we allow more space to open up at the back of the throat, which is where you want your high notes to be. By opening this space up, we create an open resonating chamber for sound to be amplified.
You can lift the soft palate vertically (up) to swallow, sealing up the back of your throat to make sure food doesn’t get into the nose. The muscle that lifts the soft palate is called the Levator Veli Palatini (LVP).
You can also widen the soft palate horizontally, which is useful for belting. The muscle that helps to lift and widen is called the Tensor Veli Palatini (TVP).
You don’t need to know the fancy muscle terms, just understand that your soft palate can do so much to help you sing and belt higher so that you don’t get tight or feel strain. Using the body’s anatomy to sing is fascinating and bringing attention to muscles that can help us is greatly beneficial in terms of effectiveness and ease. Practice lifting the soft palate daily and you might feel an improvement on those high notes, especially for belting.
Watch my video about the Soft Palate: https://youtu.be/RGeRLCG1nvw?si=BJf-K3ooOZVJnjp5
3. Larynx Mobility
There are three larynx positions that you can be aware of. There is not one fixed position. Most of the time vocal coaches encourage a low larynx position, primarily to make sure the singer is being safe with their voice. A high-rise larynx for too long can lead to vocal issues, like vocal fatigue and voice loss.
However, if you understand how to use your soft palate to lift when singing higher, then a high larynx is nothing to be afraid of. Let’s get into the three different positions.
A high larynx promotes more of that bright, brassy, and edgy sound, often used in contemporary musical theater and pop singing. It is actually part of the recipe for “Pure Belts” by the Estill model.
A neutral larynx is a relaxed position for the larynx, in the middle of your neck. It helps to create a natural sound, close to what your speaking voice would be when you sing.
A low larynx promotes more of a warm, full, and resonant tone, often found in classical singing and sometimes musical theater legit style.
Depending on your style, larynx position plays a part in helping your belt. The larynx will move up and down naturally. The higher you sing, the larynx will want to rise in the attempt to limit the air that goes through. The lower you go, the larynx will drop. Instead of thinking it needs to stay in one spot, teach your larynx to be mobile and move around to the appropriate spots to accommodate pitches and musical phrasing.
For that musical theatre belt, a high larynx has been suggested to produce that bright twang tone quality in the voice. Just be aware of what other structures in the vocal tract you need to adjust to make sure you are not too squeezed or pressed.
4. Alignment for Anchor (Posture)
Let’s clear this up. We need to anchor our voice so that it is stable. However, we confuse breath support as the anchor. Breathing exercises help to reset the body and prepare it for singing, however anchoring comes from bodywork. Meaning, the posture you practice is how you “support” your larynx and your voice. Use your back muscles, arms, shoulder blades, and torso to achieve this. That is why, when I ask my students if they have any shoulder pain or backaches, it usually coincides with difficulty in singing and definitely belting.
Here’s the basic posture checklist that vocal coaches would recommend for beginner singers:
Stand feet hip distance apart
Soften the knees
Tuck your pelvis under you
Lengthen the spine
Square your shoulders
Head on top of your neck
Chin tucked slightly in and down
5. Twang
Adding “twang” to your voice is a way to project your voice without pushing effort levels.
This is helpful when singing into the upper register of your voice and instead of sounding weak, you can sound strong and loud easily.
To be more specific, twang is the intentional narrowing of the vocal tract to boost out specific harmonics. When we sing with a balanced tone, there are overtones that are produced on top of the actual pitch we are singing. When you apply twang, those upper harmonics brighten up and that's how you achieve a sharp and pingy sound quality, which is appropriate for a belt voice, especially in musical theater and pop.
Just make sure we are not confusing twang for nasality. If you find yourself singing too nasal but you are actually trying to do twang, adjust your soft palate. A lowered soft palate creates a nasal sound, and a lifted soft palate creates a non-nasal sound.
I have an entire section about twang in my Belt Like A Broadway Star Online Course and you will be guided on how to produce twang more efficiently after watching the video in the course.
Citations:
Soft palate. (2023, November 3). Kenhub.
Byrne, A. (2020). The Singing Athlete (pp. 94-98). Andrew Byrne Studio Inc.
Anchoring: Breathing vs. bodywork. (2010, July 12). Wonder of Voice.
Voice Registers. (n.d.). Vocal Skills.
Hoch, M. (2014). A Dictionary for The Modern Singer. Rowman & Littlefield.
If you need personal guidance on your belting, book a lesson with Tina and she'll help you make adjustments that will make you wonder “why aren’t other coaches teaching me this!”
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Tina Golden is a voice teacher who studies holistic, science-based, and brain-based training to help singers achieve their vocal goals on singing with more control
Through her research she has found out that there is more to just knowing the basics. There is science, anatomy, and acoustic knowledge that we can rely on to help us sing with more control. Therefore, anyone can learn to sing in any style without hurting themselves with the right steps.
Book some voice lessons today to become a stronger singer
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