belting advice...

[jessikax09]

Posted: 4/18/08 at 8:30pm

Anyone... I've got it in me... I just need some help on shaping it up some.

[Juliash]

Posted: 4/18/08 at 8:49pm

Ask a good teacher...seriously, the best advice I can give after watching several of the best female singers I know destroy their voices by belting incorrectly.

[ep1c]

Posted: 4/20/08 at 1:00am

Similar to above. . .please be careful? I have seen the after effects of doing such to your voice without proper teaching and it isn't pretty. . .also, being a bass casted as Enjolras, I can relate and say take it slow.

[jessikax09]

Posted: 4/20/08 at 10:31am

thanks everyone.
I'm starting voice lessons back up after my next performance, it's not a musical, but I've just been really busy with it.

Belting is one thing we havn't really touched on yet... I just some extra help shaping it up.

We have a local performanceof Wicked soon... and I'm really going for Elphapa, enough said haha.

[dramatothemax]

Posted: 4/20/08 at 11:20am

Well...no one should be playing Elpheba or singing it unless they've had years of belt or mix training. They should also be in their 20's because the chords are more developed. At this point, I would maybe go for Nessa, even though Elpheba is ideal, it's not safe for your vocal chords.

[Leah Machelle]

Posted: 4/20/08 at 12:39pm

Couldn't agree more with dramatothemax.

Going to an arts high school, I've seen way to many of my fellow musical-theatre singers get nodes because of belting too much. Belting without training is like going on pointe before getting a year of ballet training.

Also, please be careful on who is teaching you. I'm very lucky, I have a julliard-taught voice teacher to guide me, but a LOT LOT LOT of teachers out there don't have a clue on how to teach singing, much less teach how to belt without damage.

BE CAREFUL! And find a good, well-credentialed voice teacher.

[jessikax09]

Posted: 4/21/08 at 8:21pm

I thank you all for suggestions, really I do, and I understand where you are all coming from. I'm not trying to saoud rude at all, but I asked for some suggestions on the technique of belting, not reasons why to wait, or not do belt at all for that matter.

I understand that I'm younger (17), but my voice very developed for my age, and when you are trained (as I am), no one knows your voice and abilites better than you. I am now at the point where I am learning a lot more and really trying to perfect things, belting is one of those things.

So, does anyone have addvice on the techniques and ways to better belt?

Thanks :)

Updated On: 4/26/08 at 08:21 PM

[Broadway_freak]

Posted: 4/22/08 at 10:23pm

Women's voices fully mature at age 22, so you have awhile! Also, there are very few actual high belters (Ex. Patti Lupone, Idina Menzel). The rest require a "mixed voice" which is a safer and more consistant sound of a belt. A strong mix can fool the ear into thinking it's a natural belt. The girl MT's at UMICH are all mixers, much like Shoshana Bean, Andrea Burns and Eden Espinosa. Notice they can riff much higher than Idina? Usually anthing above a B flat or C should be mixed but a full voiced belt on an occasion is alright. Hope it helps!

[mjcallahan]

Posted: 4/24/08 at 1:37am

don't want to sound rude either but, your voice is far from developed. broadwayfreak is right, you've still got years of learning and developing to go. the other posters are right also, you cannot go from not belting, to attempting the wicked score within a few weeks or lessons. i would say get yourself a teacher who works with belters so they can teach you the right way so you don't have to re-learn how to sing as so many people do because they rush into it.

if you take it seriously the only way to learn safely is to take their suggestions. you'd be surprised how much damage can be done in a small amount of time.

[i*heart*fame]

Posted: 4/24/08 at 9:38am

Also, "local production of Wicked" that "production" is most likely illegal since rights to Wicked are not available and wont be for awhile.

[dancingthrulife04]

Posted: 4/24/08 at 10:01am

So, does anyone have addvice on the techniques and ways to better belt?

My advice? Wait until you start lessons and ask your teacher.

No one here can see or hear you, so no one hear should be giving you advice. You run a very high risk of screwing up your voice that way.

And yeah, you might want to consider editing out that "local production of Wicked."

[sleepyguy1717]

Posted: 4/24/08 at 1:10pm

I hate to threadjack, but I have a belting question in general.

How do you begin to belt in your higher register? I'm a 16 year old boy, so I've got a while to go, and I'm in no rush either. I just always see audition notices that say, "show off a high belt." How does one begin developing a "high belt"? Is it something that just takes time? And your belting range will get higher as you continue on singing, and in lessons, and in college? Or is it a technique thing? Maybe I'm just confused.

[dramatothemax]

Posted: 4/24/08 at 2:15pm

It's technique, a lot of lessons from a teacher who knows what they're talking about and genetics. Some people have vocal chords of steel and chords that allow them to speak higher naturally, sometimes that gives them a higher singing voice.

This is my opinion, if you're already about 17 or 18 and haven't had any voice lessons and you want to be high belter...you'll need to be extra super patient. Be willing to let it take a few years because really good belting takes years to learn. Also, learning it correctly and perfecting your sound takes a lot of time. Of course no one's belt is ever perfect. Get yourself a nice mix/belt.

[BroadwayFuture46]

Posted: 4/24/08 at 7:36pm

I have to be honest and i don't want to sound rude, but that came off as a little arrogant and ignorant. BroadwayFreek knows what she's talking about and so do a lot of people on this forum. A female voice doesn't finish developing till about 22 or 23 and for a male it's closer to 24 to 26 sometimes. So to say your voice is done developing at 17 seems like a farfetched statement. You really don't want to be belting your face off without proper (and i mean proper) technique and training. and Sam (dramatothemax) makes an excellent point, belting is very strenuous on your vocal chords; some people do just have those steel vocal chords but others can develop nodes really fast from belting improperly and then ruin their voices forever. Work on developing your mix first and then transition your way in.

and yeah I highly doubt any production you're doing of Wicked will be legal.....just sayin....

[sleepyguy1717]

Posted: 4/24/08 at 10:06pm

Ok. Let me get this straight. So I learned in a previous post that a mix was a cross between head voice and belt voice. Right? So then say you're working on achieving a specifc note in some song (in my case its G4). You start with the note in your head voice, you begin practicing mixing it, and with time it migrates into your belt voice? (mental note to ask my voice teacher about all of this on Tuesday! She's classically trained, so would she be famillar with the terminology)

Am I getting all this?

Updated On: 4/24/08 at 10:06 PM

[dramatothemax]

Posted: 4/24/08 at 11:16pm

I'm not saying that a voice is fully developed at 17. What I meant to say, and sorry if it came out wrong, was that if you're just starting singing at the age of 17 and you want to start belting right away, you can't. Your voice obviously has a few more years to mature, but you can't just start taking singing lessons and expect a fierce belt in 2 weeks.

[maya5892]

Posted: 4/25/08 at 12:32am

Yeah, wtf is up with this "local production of Wicked"?

[RunningInTheDark]

Posted: 4/25/08 at 9:26pm

Okay, I'm not super familiar with the female voice especially as when its concerned with someone who has only been classically trained, but I can sure help YOU out sleepyguy!

"mix" is something that MORE OR LESS happens naturally once you've strengthened your mix voice. I would HIGHLY suggest working on the "siren" where you travel from your lowest chest note to your highest falsetto. At first you'll have a rough time smoothing out the transition between the two, but the goal is to make it sound and FEEL like absolutely one voice. MOST men don't work on their falsetto and the transition between the two enough, and therefore have a problem going beyond a "G."

PS, From what I'm told, most "tenors" have their divide at the G and F, making those notes hardest to sing because they require the most "mix."

BUT, you must progress slowly into your highest notes as the vocal folds can only "stretch" a little bit at a time and if you do it TOOOOOOOO fast you will over stretch the chords and develope a "warble" (think GRACE ADLER! ha ha).

TO ALL THE BELTERS OUT THERE!

The most important thing to protect your voice is your breath. There should really be NO extra "squeeze" to reach higher notes. If anything, you should be taking a deep breath in, feeling it down the pit of your stomach.

Sleepyguy, the BEST example of a male mix is Gavin Creel. Listen to "I Turned the Corner" from Thoroughly Modern Millie to get the full idea.

[sleepyguy1717]

Posted: 4/25/08 at 11:01pm

Thanks so much! That really helped! So then basically you're saying that I'll get that belt/mix sound on those higher notes with time and practice?

I'll definitely be pulling out Millie in a few minutes. Thank you!

[jessikax09]

Posted: 4/26/08 at 1:30am

Okay, just to quickly clear the air... I went to this local theatre's website and Wicked is no longer on the list of future production... go figure, I guess someone else picked it up quickly too.

Secondly, I didn't say my voice was totally developed, I said that it was very developed for my age.

Thirdly, I can't remember who said this, but I did sound a little arrogant and for that I apologize... but I have had proper trainning since the age of 9... for some reason we just never moved onto belting until now, not that I needed to work on it at such a young ago...but we (my teacher and I) had never even talked about it, EVER... I was just seeking some advice that some other people that have gone through this might have, that's all.

Thanks for the suggestions guys!
:)

Updated On: 4/26/08 at 01:30 AM

[dramatothemax]

Posted: 4/26/08 at 2:02am

Ah I must have missed that part. My apologies! Well if you have classical training, it is a safer transition into belting because of the technique. Most def.

[Broadway_freak]

Posted: 4/26/08 at 10:59am

just a question for jessikax09...what stuff is your teacher having you go through right now? If you've already found your head voice you're half way there! Belting isn't just about bringing up the chest register.

[jessikax09]

Posted: 4/26/08 at 11:17am

Well for the most part he started on teaching me technique very early on...once I got most of that we usually just practice, intensly, on certain songs for auditions that I may have coming up, but since I don't have anything going on right now we've moved back to technique. I guess he just feels that I'm ready to start on belting and/or mixing... and personally, I think I am too. I mean, I have to start sometime...

[Broadway_freak]

Posted: 4/26/08 at 1:58pm

What specific songs? What is in your audition repertoire, and signature "you" songs?

[jessikax09]

Posted: 4/26/08 at 2:18pm

Well I usually go for something with a more of a darker sound. I like things in the minor keys mostly.
One thing I want to clear up though before I list certain songs or shows is that I come from a VERY small town so I do choose more popular shows to audution with because the people into theatre around here aren't really as into theatre as most places... They don't know many shows that aren't popular... I know that's strange to here... but it's true... small southern towns are like that.

I usually go with something from Phantom, Sweeney, Les Mes etc...

I feel more comfortable with darker stuff, I don't know why... I'm trying to fix it and branch out a little more though.