The Multiplicity of Belting

IN ANY DISCUSSION AMONG SINGING TEACHERS concerning belting, it quickly becomes apparent that there is little consensus on what belting should sound like or even what belting is. Does this term describe a technique or a vocal style? Can an R&B singer be a belter? Can men belt? Should belting be thought of only as loud, brassy, and nasal? This lack of consensus is to be expected, and there always may be disagreement among voice teachers about the definition and aesthetic of any vocal sound. Having said that, I hasten to add that this is an exciting time for singers and teachers of voice as we continue to discuss and codify a vocal technique and style that, traditionally, has been vilified or ignored by the classical voice community. The root of the word "belt" probably does not originate from the Borscht Belt, that concentration of hotels in the Catskill Mountains of New York State, however charming that derivation would be. Rather, the term most likely comes from the slang term for "wallop," meaning "delivering a hard blow," as in boxing. In the early years of the twentieth century, without the availability of microphones, loud singing was not only an acoustic necessity, but also turned out to be a big hit with audiences. Sophie Tucker and Al Jolson were examples of such powerful singers. With the advent of electronic amplification, however, conversational singers called "crooners" became popular. In this modern age, should the term belting continue to be defined solely as loud, yell-like singing? Perhaps, but in my continuing quest for clarification and ease of communication with my students, I define belting as speech-like or yell-like in character and as the style used in much of today's music theater. I explain that singing technique in Western music can be divided into two basic categories: popular voice technique and classical voice technique. The former uses predominantly a speech-like or yell-like sound in both men and women, and the latter, in women, uses predominantly a head voice dominant or nonspeech-like sound. More simply put, popular singing sounds like someone's speaking voice and classical doesn't. Popular voice technique is used in the styles of pop, R&B, country, rock, jazz, and music theater belting, although there may be occasional excursions into head voice on higher notes for a lighter effect. Classical voice technique is used in the styles of opera, operetta, choir, and legit music theater, although there are exceptions, such as some operatic tenors creating a yell-like sound on high notes, or some female classical singers using a chest voice sound which is more speech-like in character. Any discussion of belting must include the topic of voice registers. Since I have never had a clear understanding of the terms "chest voice" and "head voice" (and I know I am not alone in this), I long ago decided to sidestep these terms and focus instead on my ever increasing awareness of laryngeal sensations related to pitch change. By focusing my attention on different sensations in vocal fold thickness, tension, and length, I came to a visceral and direct experience of voice registers. I concluded that vibrations felt in the head and face are actually the secondary effects of laryngeal muscle activities, along with resonance coupling. Together, these two sources could be manipulated to create the panoply of human vocal sound. Modern voice science has confirmed visceral perception. Although speech-like and yell-like sounds are not exclusive to music theater and are the basis of pop, R&B, rock, jazz, and country styles, for the purposes of this article I limit the term belting to its music theater context. Within this style, one can hear a stunning diversity of voice timbres-loud, soft, high larynx, anchored larynx, more nasal, less nasal, more or less ringy. These various belting styles can be called heavy belt, nasal belt, twangy belt, brassy belt, and speech-like belt. …