Beautiful Belting?

[angelfoodkate]

Posted: 11/11/05 at 11:51am

I am applying for Governer's School for the Arts, and as far as that goes, it said not to do shy from once upon a matress and anything from RENT. I love both of these, Idina Menzel is a personal favorite and inspiration, and I belt like crazy. I dont know how to do it properly, and I dont want to hurt my voice. Any opinions/ advice?

[Joeyrj23]

Posted: 11/11/05 at 11:58am

Umm don't do it, especially at an audition. If you don't know how to do it properly, then it's one of the worst things you can do for your voice. Better get some lessons or sing something thats not gonna tear you up, embarrass you, or hurt their ears.

[Fizz]

Posted: 11/11/05 at 12:05pm

Get a voice teacher, they'll show you how to carry your voice properly, so its belt-y and isn't murdering your vocal chords.

[cathywellerstein]

Posted: 11/11/05 at 12:21pm

until you learn how to do it correctly, i recommend that you stop belting. if you develop a good soprano voice, then it may acutally help your belt voice. but making sure you're doing it right is the most important thing. you may sound good now, but if you continue to sing totally wrong, you won't have a voice at all in a couple of years.

[Fizz]

Posted: 11/11/05 at 2:01pm

cathywellerstein is right, I know some people whose voices are dead now because of it... I even was belting left and right and whatnot but have been cutting that down because I don't want to ruin my voice.

[StephanietheStar]

Posted: 11/11/05 at 3:42pm

BACK AWAY FROM THE CHEST VOICE:

It's ok to belt in moderation..but you should never PRACTICE your chest voice belt. Sing in soprano, warm up in soprano, do EVERYTHING in soprano...you will never loose the chest part. In fact the more you sing and expand the soprano range the more your chest belt will come out healthfully and clearly. If you sing in your chest voice in those high ranges you break down the voice as a whole.

The best thing to do (I used to be a nothing-but chest belter) is to get a voice teacher and build up that soprano voice, and work to getting that belt sound in soprano, or getting a HEALTHY approach to a chest belt.
JMO...GOOD luck..it's a lot of work, but amazing the difference it makes!

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 11/11/05 at 4:05pm

Belting shouldn't hurt your voice. When you're done singing, if your voice hurts, then you're doing it wrong. It should also feel pretty much effortless.

[StephanietheStar]

Posted: 11/11/05 at 5:31pm

Correct, and the same goes for soprano singing, if it hurts than you are doing the process wrong.

[angelfoodkate]

Posted: 11/14/05 at 11:27am

Thanks guys! It doesn't hurt when i do it now, but it's the after-effect I'm worried about... I'm trying to get a vocal coach but I'm having the hardest time finding one whos' not 100 years old and can actually sing(i live in a TINY TOWN in TN) Working on developing the soprano...working...