Belting it out...

In my coaching studio I work with performers to sing in the style of the piece as it was written. This usually makes it easier to sing, even for someone who has never sung in that style before. I am firmly convinced that music is written with a definite style in mind, and if you change that style, you had better be making strong, conscious decisions to change it.

That doesn't mean that you can't change the style - I spend half my audition coaching sessions working with West End clients on how to adapt their repertoire to a particular audition or show. Having said that, Musical Theatre pieces, particularly the women's songs, are written with specific gear changes and vocal/emotional qualities in mind. The more contemporary you get, the more the songs require specific voice qualities, although even the classic book musicals by Rodgers and Hammerstein require opera singers to modify what they do in Verdi.

It's to do with the tension and excitement that we, the audience, perceive in the sound. Broadway Belting has a particularly exciting sound - often edgy, "full-out", and with the possibility of falling off it. The singer does seem to be giving everything they have to make the sound. In the production of belt, there is an element of that, but most clients working with either Gillyanne or me on the Vocal Process Belting Explained course say that when they get into the appropriate vocal position, it feels so much easier. That's even though from the outside, it sounds just as full-on and 'dangerous'.

Now as far as I am concerned, any voice can make any sound. However, not every brain can sing every style. Performers usually resonate with one or two musical styles, and those are the styles they work best in. Of course it is possible to train in different styles, and I have many colleagues who do just that. However, they have made a conscious decision to learn the musical and vocal styles that are alien.

The fascinating thing about Belting is that so many people want to do it. We have had jazz singers, pop singers, gospel singers, classical recitalists and opera singers all wanting to learn how to make that big, free sound. I have to say, Belting Explained has been running for many years now, and it's our most popular course. It's huge fun. Can you imagine what it's like when 40 people in a room finally 'get it' about making open, loud noises? Gillyanne's process to Belting is so clear and straightforward, she even had a group of voice scientists yelling away in the middle of a conference!

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