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The Truth About Belting

One of the most controversial issues in singing is called belting. In recent years, contemporary musical theatre shows have made wide use of belting. As a result of it's recent surge in popularity, the ability to belt has become highly sought after and "belting" has become one of the latest musical theatre buzzwords. But what is belting exactly?

Before you can begin to understand belting you must first understand the concept of chest and head vocal ranges. The head voice is used for the upper singable range, while the chest is used for the lower portion of your range. In most basic terms, belting involves singing notes that are normally in your upper range down in the chest voice. By forcing notes that are normally sung in the head voice back into the chest voice, singers are able to maintain the loud, rich sound normally associated only with these lower notes. This is a technique usually only used by women, but can be used by men as well.

Belting does not mean merely "singing loudly". Belting is not singing in the chest voice.

Q: Is it easier to belt high notes rather than singing them in the legit head voice?

A: Absolutely not! Your technique must be well developed before you try to belt or you can cause serious damage to your voice. Belting is very difficult to do properly. You should never belt a high note that you cannot sing quietly in the head voice first.

Q: I am 12-18 years old. Can I learn to belt?

A: Remember that a woman's voice does not completely mature until her early 30's, and from 12 to 18 a young woman's voice undergoes a great deal of change and instability. Your voice changes just as an adolescent male does, but it is less noticeable because it does not seem to affect your speaking voice. My personal recommendation is that you do not begin to train for belting until at least the age of 18.

Q: I want to learn to belt! Can you tell me how?

Unless it is something that comes naturally to you, belting is something best left for when your voice has had professionally training. Belting is dangerous because if done incorrectly, it puts an enormous strain on your throat and vocal chords. It requires tremendous strength, control, and talent to be both effective and at the same time not damaging. Do not attempt to belt without the supervision of a certified vocal instructor. This is not something that I can instruct you to do safely without meeting in person.

More Belting Resources

Description of Belting from Wikipedia