Belt is that strong sound in the female voice you hear in contemporary commercial music. It is the powerful sound you hear when listening to Pink, Celine Dion, Indina Menzel or Lea Michelle. It is what you hear when Beyonce sings. It isn’t always the loudest, or highest sound. But there is a certain energy in the sound which creates excitement in the audience.

Belt is taking the muscles which support the lower register of your voice and systematically (and over time) training them to stay in play when you are singing higher notes. Normally, untrained voices might want to switch to a lighter feel around E – G above middle C, but belt is taking this register higher, to Ab, then up to C, and beyond. Some singers just have this quality, some need to train it into their muscles.

Belt scares some singers. It can feel dangerous when done badly. It sounds dangerous and edgy – which is why audiences are thrilled by the sound. If you belt too high, too loudly for too long, you can certainly do some damage and it is off to the ENT. Hemorrhage and, long term, nodules may appear on the vocal folds and this is scary indeed for singers.

However, when done correctly, belt feels amazing. I have been belting for at least 23 years, and most of the time well but occasionally not healthily. Which is why I know what it feels like to

1. Develop a belt

2. Stuff up a belt

3. Learn how to fix a belt

4. Maintain healthy belt

5. Increase the belt range

6. Blend the belt into your top notes by mixing into upper register

7. Keep speech quality throughout.

I have never damaged my own voice, but I have had singers come for rehab (after surgery) who have. It is great to hear their voices improve with correct technique. Belt requires lots of space in the pharynx, a careful balance of airflow and air pressure (too much airflow and you can overblow the sound, not enough, and the muscles won’t co-operate and the sound will be weak and under-energised. Too little air pressure and you have no belt, too much air pressure and  you get into dangerous territory again!)

Balancing the belt into the upper register requires a lot of body awareness, energy and sometimes patience. It is an awful feeling to have your voice simply “cut out” as you sing higher. This will happen when there is no twang present in the belt – it is too dark and heavy in the upper belt area – or there is too much flow and pressure – overblowing the top of the belt.  The muscles simply say “no way” and stop singing, or else disconnect into a breathy light sound which feels like a completely different voice.

Why do you need to belt? Well, quite simply, you don’t HAVE to belt. There is much beautiful singing and many beautiful singers out there who never need to or want to belt and that is great. However, much contemporary commercial music requires belt. Country, pop, rock, music theatre, jazz  styles (and all their intertwining permutations) use belt, and audiences often expect this sound. Classical singers CAN (and do) learn to belt. If they are not singing classical style, but  a contemporary song, really, it sounds inappropriate if they don’t! It probably sounds beautiful, but inappropriate. (Think Dame Kiri singing jazz – lovely, but kinda weird too!)

I love singing, I love belting, I love teaching belt – the excitement of a free belt is something I look forward to seeing on those students learning how to do this! What is your belt experience?

What was fascinating to me as a teacher was her physical reactions, and the impact that they had on her voice. This is the flight or fight response that singers often experience before performing. It is terrible because although you want to sing and perform, you can perceive performance as being dangerous and off goes the body into action. Some of the signs of performance anxiety include a dry throat, sweaty palms, shaking limbs, increased heartbeat, butterflies in the tummy, sleeplessness before a performance and excessive muscle tension. These can interfere with the voice in performance, impacting on pitch, memory, breath control, alignment, and the ability to “be in the moment” and produce a really special musical moment.

Performers allow themselves to be vulnerable when performing and that can be a frightening experience. However, this is what we do, and discovering coping strategies for the physical and emotional aspects of performance anxiety can be of enormous benefit. I find that ignoring the elephant in the room and trying somehow to “push through” will only lead to another tense and ultimately disappointing performance.

Christopher Arneson, in the “Journal of Singing” (May/June 2010, “Performance Anxiety: A Twenty First Century Perspective” ), suggests a number of techniques including accepting your fear, understanding your fear (what is the source of the fear), silencing the negative inner voices (the judge, the doubter, the timid soul), getting rid of excuses, eliminating self-destructive behaviours, prepare, release physical tension, refuse to  focus on your nervousness, have realistic expectations and finally, be generous (to others, and I think, to yourself). Phew, that’s a lot to think about and work through. But singing is a mind body and spirit activity, so all aspects of performance anxiety need to be addressed. And the day that you perform with freedom is a great day!

One thing that is NEVER helpful is pointing out to someone who desires to sing that they “have no voice”, “cannot sing in tune”,  ”you are simply untalented” or “you cannot sing”.  I have heard many many more variations on this theme from students. It is incredibly hurtful and the comments can wound quite deeply. The person who makes such comments often knows nothing about singing or has a smallsmattering of knowledge. They often have no idea how much these comments hurt, but they always do. Even if the comment is true, can you imagine how you would feel if someone took the the thing that you loved to do, sometimes most in the whole world, even though you KNOW you have a long way to go, and told you “you are just not good enough”. Would you feel confident next time you attempted the activity, or would those thoughts ring around in your head? Maybe you would feel a little sick in the stomach. You might feel a bit angry at yourself and upset at your achievement, or lack of it, so far. Then think about how this would make your body feel. Imagine if your instrument is a finely balanced bit of muscle placed right in the centre of this tight tense body. How would it feel to try again? Harder? Does the criticism compound the problem?

Yes some people are talented and just “have it”. Others need work. I teach some incredibly naturally gifted singers and some who have further to go on the journey. They are all singers. They all want to express themselves through singing. And they are all brave enough to put themselves before a teacher and ask for help. When loved ones (parents, friends, partners, people in positions of authority) make unhelpful comments, it is just SO much harder for them to focus on the technical issues. If someone criticizes an aspect of our work it can be helpful, or hurtful, or both, but we can usually continue on physically with the job. Singing is different. If the brain is upset, the body will react, and this will affect voice production. Criticism in singing needs to be given in the context of giving a solution to the problem, and this is best done within lessons. Criticism from a loved one, well meaning friend or authority figure can often damage the relationship.

Perhaps we need to think twice before commenting on another person’s voice. They may not be quite as strong inside (yet!) as you think they are.

What is a functional voice anyway? In order to measure disfunction, you have to recognize function first. One can never be too familiar with functional sound and its application to style. Health first, style second. When that is organized in the voice, the process can be reversed. That means that a singer with a really healthy, functionally varied voice, can adapt the voice to the style at hand without causing vocal distress. That happens only after the singer is skilled and experienced, and has the voice fully developed and available, a process that takes from 2 to 5 years of regular, disciplined technical work.

YES! Health first, style second!

Why? Well, I’m ALWAYS incredibly proud of my beautiful children, but today we found out our son has been nominated as a finalist in the Pixel Prize competition www.thepixelprize.com.au for the very photo I use on the website! Congratulations Edward!

I have been reading about long term memory and how long it takes to practice with great attention before a new skill is acquired … any guesses?

SIX MONTHS of regular (at least five days a week) of focused practice. At first I thought, well, who wants to hear this? Six months is a long time in this fast paced world and there are quite a few muscles which need training, not just one muscle to practice with! However, I then thought about my own experiences with learning new skills, and I would have to agree, six months sounds about right.

One of the things a lot of students want to know is how long do they come to lessons before they are “ready”. I guess it depends on your idea of “ready!” Your starting point. I think that we are never “ready”, but we perform to the best of our abilities where we are. I am committed to continuing to practice, train and grow. One thought, how long would you need to learn another instrument before you felt competent to get up and perform? What are your experiences and thoughts about how long “should” it take, and how long it “actually” takes to feel competent as a performer?

I love that in “This is Your Brain on Music” right in the introduction Levitin comments that “Many people who love music profess to know nothing about it.” These are highly intelligent people who are intimidated by the jargon the music experts use to discuss music, yet they know what music they like and do not like. I find that this is true of learner singers who walk into my studio and say “I can’t sing” or “I have been told that I will never be able to sing” and yet I can play some scales which they then sing along to in tune and in time. This happened with a returning student only two days ago.

He had been told he was “no good.” Yet he proceeded to sing in tune and time and with a lovely natural tone in his voice. Musicians and educators must be careful with their language, as it was only a burning desire to express himself through singing that brought this brave soul back into the studio.

In “The Brain that Changes Itself”, a book about neuroplasticity, I learnt that when certain parts of the brain do not respond to instructions, other parts of the brain take on the role and that we can learn new motor and language skills. Much about teaching singing is about learning new muscle patterns to support and strengthen a singing tone. I watched a TV show about the findings of this book (which prompted the purchase!) where they demonstrated that people who practiced a piano scale showed an increase in the part of the brain function in the area which controlled finger movement. They then proceeded to demonstrate that they got exactly the same results (an increase in brain function) with another control group who only IMAGINED that they were practicing the scale.

Often singing students sing without focusing on perhaps the one thing (a muscle movement, or an emotion, for example) which I may have asked them to consider whilst repeating a phrase and the results are frustrating. However, focused attention DOES get results. Thinking about HOW they want a note to sound, imagining they are singing it with this sensation, or emotion, or tonal quality, or sense of freedom, or whatever it is that works for them, and then singing it often moves the student closer to where they want to be with their voice.

This can be harder than it sounds. How often do you sing and judge yourself while you are singing? Because thoughts and judgements can be distracting. Mental multitasking is not always useful, especially when the mind is thinking “that was awful”, or “I am under-prepared”, or “I sound terrible”, or “will she know how little practice I have done?” or “I HAVE to get this right.” All this while trying to produce beautiful sound! I know about this first hand. I had a person once comment on my voice, that it should sound “more like …”, and because they were in a position of authority, I didn’t question this. I spent lots of time trying to make that sound, or what I understood at the time this sound to be. I lost all confidence in my basic ability to sing and perform and the result was something that was a joy in my life became a nightmare. I sounded worse than ever. Why? Because I was trying to multitask in my mind. When I resumed studies and learnt again to do one thing at a time, I noticed my voice was actually responding. The sound was improving and so was my confidence. With small steps over time, we can achieve our goals!

Anyway, back to reading, and I am inspired to improve my skills, so more daily practice for this teacher!

One of the issues which has reared it’s head in the last couple of weeks (especially with the Hairspray auditions – well attended by students of my studio!) is suitable preparation for music theatre auditions. Waapa is running it’s 2010 series of Music Theatre audition masterclasses in July, and Brisbane is on Friday 2nd July, from 10am – 1pm. More details may be found at waapa.ecu.edu.au. These courses are invaluable for those who are serious about a career in music theatre. I have had great feedback from students who have attended these in the past.

A bird doesn’t sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song.
Maya Angelou

One of the things I have noticed in my returning students is the summer break has meant a singing break. The breath flow is not doing what it once did,  the notes are maybe not as strong as they were last year. So it is exciting to hear, in the second week back, improvements already simply by sticking with some practice. Remember, you wouldn't expect to be able to play an instrument well after a break, or with very little instruction. The voice is the same. Give it some focused and attentive workouts and it will be up and running again. Warm up, do some voice function work, sing your songs, cool down. The basics never go out of fashion!