#1
Posted: 8/14/03 at 12:29am
Would anyone be able to tell me the proper method for belting or chest voice, a la Judy Kuhn? Mine can tend to sound a bit forced. How do I free it up more? Thanks!
#4
Posted: 8/14/03 at 12:42am
proper breath control..stand up straight....
and my voice teacher teaches all of us to make this "O" sound like punching out an O it's hard to explain without a visual but man..it has worked for EVERYBODY he teaches...
and my voice teacher teaches all of us to make this "O" sound like punching out an O it's hard to explain without a visual but man..it has worked for EVERYBODY he teaches...
#5
Posted: 8/14/03 at 12:46am
and don't crane your neck while you sing.
#6
Posted: 8/14/03 at 12:47am
But my problem is that I think I sing from my throat. Do I squeeze my stomach more or what?
#7
Posted: 8/14/03 at 12:49am
NEVER sing from your throat....proper or belting...doesn't matter. always get the most out of your chest and stomach for belting, and chest and head for proper (depending on voice part).
Updated On: 8/14/03 at 12:49 AM
#8
Posted: 8/14/03 at 12:51am
singing in any way from your throat will kill your voice and you won't be able to project. You have to sing from teh diaphram.
#9
Posted: 8/14/03 at 12:53am
There's an opening to a bad joke there somewhere....but I won't go there.
#10
Posted: 8/14/03 at 12:54am
i resisted the urge. So can you.
#11
Posted: 8/14/03 at 1:34am
I'm a legit soprano and I've been working on developing my belt a lot in the past year. (My school did Wild Party (Lippa's) and I was second in line for Queenie by the time it was all over!) I started finding my belt by placing everything in the nose. I, of course, do not mean making a ridiculous nasal sound, but just trying to focus it as forward as possible, keeping all tension off the throat. And as with any singing, relying heavily on your diaphram for the "umph" needed to make the sound strong. Think 'forward placement' and I know it sounds lame, but one way I practiced getting tension off my throat was by singing along to Britney Spears. We all know the girl CANNOT sing, but her "singing" is all in the nose and it can help you to locate the placement. Just a couple thoughts! There is no ONE RIGHT WAY to sing of course and these are just my personal observations and suggestions.
#12
Posted: 8/14/03 at 1:57am
If you want to get technical...
Proper belting is done with the following steps...
Your onset (or beginning) will need to be glottal, meaning the attack is hard. Your false vocal folds will need to be contracted while vocal folds will be on a horizontal plane. The vocal fold mass will be thick to sustain the brassy sound and the only thing involved around the larynx will be the cricoid which will be tilted. Your palate will be totally closed while the pharyngeal width will be expanded and the length short. You should be anchoring and your tongue should be high. Finally, the aryelgottic sphincter should be open or constricted depending on the style of belt.
Any question? Consult myself or the Jo Estill Vocal Training Guides.
Thanks! :)
Proper belting is done with the following steps...
Your onset (or beginning) will need to be glottal, meaning the attack is hard. Your false vocal folds will need to be contracted while vocal folds will be on a horizontal plane. The vocal fold mass will be thick to sustain the brassy sound and the only thing involved around the larynx will be the cricoid which will be tilted. Your palate will be totally closed while the pharyngeal width will be expanded and the length short. You should be anchoring and your tongue should be high. Finally, the aryelgottic sphincter should be open or constricted depending on the style of belt.
Any question? Consult myself or the Jo Estill Vocal Training Guides.
Thanks! :)
#14
Posted: 8/14/03 at 2:00am
DrVincento2,
perectlu understandable language for the simple laymen :)
good explanation.
perectlu understandable language for the simple laymen :)
good explanation.
#16
Posted: 8/14/03 at 9:33am
What an interested topic. Someone mentioned chest voice - my voice teacher never lets me go there. She's like, "You're in your throat! Get out of there!" The thing is, I don't feel anything in my throat. I don't feel any tension...I try to focus my sound up in my head. When my cheeks and top of my head feel kinda buzzy, I know I'm doing it correctly. One thing - to me a Broadway voice is very different from, say, an R&B voice - case in point, Toni Braxton. But the thing is that my voice teacher doesn't understand that. It's the one thing that truly bothers me about her. She's looking for a certain quality in my voice, a certain style. She doesn't understand that "Life of the Party" isn't supposed to sound like say, Amy Grant. Can anyone out there understand my frustration? I shouldn't gripe. She is wonderful for technique and I've learned an awful lot. What gets me is when she says "Pick a song to start working on for your repetoire. Something OTHER than a Broadway piece."
#17
Posted: 8/14/03 at 11:36am
Hmmm....this is all very interesting.
Just a thing to keep in mind...
Anatomically, all sound begins with breath, in the lungs which is in the chest. BUT all sound comes from the Larynx, Vocal Folds and such.
Like a car, the body needs a key to start the engine. The breath serves as the key while the vocal folds serve as the engine. The lips, teeth and tongue are merely additional features to enhance the car like a sunroof or power windows. Simply, the breath supplys the the power, the source (false vocal folds, vocal folds, vocal fold mass and larynx) provide the sound while the rest of the body provides the filter in which your sound is formed.
Using terms like chest voice or head voice are great analogies because those are the feelings attached to the sound and feelings of the sound. But I really recommend anyone who is interested in studying voice to explore the anatomy. The Jo Estil Vocal Training books are EXCELLENT sources.
Once you know how your body works, you can take better care of it. That's a simple fact. It most defintely will apply to your singing. Once you know how you make the sounds you make, then you'll know how to control them (I.E. belt, opera, falsetto...)
And finally...
The diaphragm is practically non-existent when singing. It merely supports the lungs but doesn't do anything magical to your voice which is very far away. If you trying flexing your muscles when having to sing a hard section of a song, that will most defintely improve the sound. But the diaphragm is not the only muscle. You can constrict any muscle to help you sing (i.e. your butt, arms, legs) ANYTHING! All this is called is Anchoring.
Also, you should sing any style you want! Country, R&B, Opera, Belt...anything! If your teacher tries to stick you with one, that's not good. You're spending valuable money on being told to only sing one way and in the professional world, you have to versatile!
Hope this doesn't sound like a lecture. I've been studying this stuff for a while and I love to just share my thoughts!
Just a thing to keep in mind...
Anatomically, all sound begins with breath, in the lungs which is in the chest. BUT all sound comes from the Larynx, Vocal Folds and such.
Like a car, the body needs a key to start the engine. The breath serves as the key while the vocal folds serve as the engine. The lips, teeth and tongue are merely additional features to enhance the car like a sunroof or power windows. Simply, the breath supplys the the power, the source (false vocal folds, vocal folds, vocal fold mass and larynx) provide the sound while the rest of the body provides the filter in which your sound is formed.
Using terms like chest voice or head voice are great analogies because those are the feelings attached to the sound and feelings of the sound. But I really recommend anyone who is interested in studying voice to explore the anatomy. The Jo Estil Vocal Training books are EXCELLENT sources.
Once you know how your body works, you can take better care of it. That's a simple fact. It most defintely will apply to your singing. Once you know how you make the sounds you make, then you'll know how to control them (I.E. belt, opera, falsetto...)
And finally...
The diaphragm is practically non-existent when singing. It merely supports the lungs but doesn't do anything magical to your voice which is very far away. If you trying flexing your muscles when having to sing a hard section of a song, that will most defintely improve the sound. But the diaphragm is not the only muscle. You can constrict any muscle to help you sing (i.e. your butt, arms, legs) ANYTHING! All this is called is Anchoring.
Also, you should sing any style you want! Country, R&B, Opera, Belt...anything! If your teacher tries to stick you with one, that's not good. You're spending valuable money on being told to only sing one way and in the professional world, you have to versatile!
Hope this doesn't sound like a lecture. I've been studying this stuff for a while and I love to just share my thoughts!
Updated On: 8/14/03 at 11:36 AM
#18
Posted: 8/14/03 at 11:45am
It all comes down to having a good technique..
Breathing low...puffing out your stomach (not your chest, although your chest should be high) and once puffed out...pushing your stomach and groin muscles against it...almost in a weird way fighting the air going out..
Also, with belting, sometimes its better to think of the sound going down your throat then out your throat..if that makes sense..Try to “place” the sound right in the center of your eyebrows…
Mouth placement should be shaped as if you were gonna say the first syllable of "Oh my".. ….that should be the “root” of how your mouth goes…it should never be spread open and spread in a smile… a voice teacher once remarked …if you want to sound like a trumpet …look like a trumpet…
And since the belt should have a warmth to it..... scales on an O vowel...but not only the O vowel…Also, if your doing a “belt role” every night…you better be doing full out scales covering ALL of the voice every day… otherwise, you can lose your non-belt top and bottom..
As for not using chest voice…yes, it can cause problems but great operatic sopranos and Broadway singers have used it …and know not to overdo it…and again..if your supporting..and if the voice is being kept in good care..you’ll be fine..
As long as you have a voice to begin with and good solid voice technique (rooted in operatic tradition), you should be able to sing anything..
Look at Eileen Farrell..Wagner one night...touring with Sinatra the next...and that women had a Broadway belt that could blast LuPone out of the house…
PS: Amneris4ever: It sounds like your teacher wants you to have the ability to sing all different kinds of music in different kinds of styles and sounds…..that's great..why not look at some italian art song from the eighteenth century..it sounds silly but those songs are great voice expanders..and you can sing them and not sound like an opera singer...
Breathing low...puffing out your stomach (not your chest, although your chest should be high) and once puffed out...pushing your stomach and groin muscles against it...almost in a weird way fighting the air going out..
Also, with belting, sometimes its better to think of the sound going down your throat then out your throat..if that makes sense..Try to “place” the sound right in the center of your eyebrows…
Mouth placement should be shaped as if you were gonna say the first syllable of "Oh my".. ….that should be the “root” of how your mouth goes…it should never be spread open and spread in a smile… a voice teacher once remarked …if you want to sound like a trumpet …look like a trumpet…
And since the belt should have a warmth to it..... scales on an O vowel...but not only the O vowel…Also, if your doing a “belt role” every night…you better be doing full out scales covering ALL of the voice every day… otherwise, you can lose your non-belt top and bottom..
As for not using chest voice…yes, it can cause problems but great operatic sopranos and Broadway singers have used it …and know not to overdo it…and again..if your supporting..and if the voice is being kept in good care..you’ll be fine..
As long as you have a voice to begin with and good solid voice technique (rooted in operatic tradition), you should be able to sing anything..
Look at Eileen Farrell..Wagner one night...touring with Sinatra the next...and that women had a Broadway belt that could blast LuPone out of the house…
PS: Amneris4ever: It sounds like your teacher wants you to have the ability to sing all different kinds of music in different kinds of styles and sounds…..that's great..why not look at some italian art song from the eighteenth century..it sounds silly but those songs are great voice expanders..and you can sing them and not sound like an opera singer...
Updated On: 8/14/03 at 11:45 AM
#19
Posted: 8/14/03 at 11:56am
Oh who wants to hear a healthy belt?
If the cords ain't bleedin, ya ain't doin it right.
If the cords ain't bleedin, ya ain't doin it right.
"I'm so looking forward to a time when all the Reagan Democrats are dead."
#20
Posted: 8/14/03 at 12:22pm
LOL Robbiej....
"Someone tell the story...Someone sing the song...."
#21
Posted: 8/14/03 at 12:44pm
Voiceanth....
Oh I try different things. It's just that she doesn't get the "Broadway" sound. To her, everything should be hymn like. She doesn't understand me when I say "brassy". Harumph! But thanks for your encouragement!
Oh I try different things. It's just that she doesn't get the "Broadway" sound. To her, everything should be hymn like. She doesn't understand me when I say "brassy". Harumph! But thanks for your encouragement!
#22
Posted: 8/14/03 at 12:46pm
amneris4ever
Hym-like...give more of a description...As a voice technique junkie..note the name;voiceanth..I would love to figure out "where she's taking you"...meaning what she's up to..teaching wise...
Hym-like...give more of a description...As a voice technique junkie..note the name;voiceanth..I would love to figure out "where she's taking you"...meaning what she's up to..teaching wise...
#23
Posted: 8/14/03 at 12:46pm
amneris4ever
Hymn-like...give more of a description...As a voice technique junkie..note the name;voiceanth..I would love to figure out "where she's taking you"...meaning what she's up to..teaching wise...
Hymn-like...give more of a description...As a voice technique junkie..note the name;voiceanth..I would love to figure out "where she's taking you"...meaning what she's up to..teaching wise...
#24
Posted: 8/14/03 at 12:53pm
Voiceanth...
Hmmm. How do I describe this? Ever been to a Catholic funeral? Ever hear the hymns they sing? It's like soft and meek and mild. She says "You can give the song attitude with your inflections on the words."
There's so substance to it. It's like...GAH! She does not want me pushing any sound out whatsoever. The minute I let go and start "getting into the song" and pushing out some sound so that I don't sound like a little girl singing a nursery rhyme she reals me back in faster than I can bat an eyelash.
Hmmm. How do I describe this? Ever been to a Catholic funeral? Ever hear the hymns they sing? It's like soft and meek and mild. She says "You can give the song attitude with your inflections on the words."
There's so substance to it. It's like...GAH! She does not want me pushing any sound out whatsoever. The minute I let go and start "getting into the song" and pushing out some sound so that I don't sound like a little girl singing a nursery rhyme she reals me back in faster than I can bat an eyelash.
Updated On: 8/14/03 at 12:53 PM
#25
Posted: 8/14/03 at 1:01pm
Do you feel you are holding back your voice, meaning, are you cutting your natural sound by more than half and is it painful?....does your voice feel tired after doing this...?
.jpg?format=auto&width=300)
Tickets From $59
Tickets From $58
Tickets From $106
Tickets From $71
