Unleash the Power of Your Belting Voice
Have you ever been mesmerized by the powerful belts of singers like Whitney Houston, Lady Gaga, or Freddie Mercury? Their voices are unique, yet they share one thing in common: they captivate you with their power. Belting feels incredible and can be truly empowering, but mastering it is no easy feat.
You may have experimented with a variety of singing methods, only to find none truly resonate with your voice. The issue lies in the fact that these methods are typically designed for a broad audience, overlooking the individuality of each voice's needs.
Fortunately, there's a simple remedy. By making subtle adjustments to your exercises, tailored to your specific challenges, you can personalize your belting routine.
Within this article, you can discover the most prevalent obstacles encountered in belting and their respective solutions.
Common Problems and Solutions for Belting:
1. You're shouting and can't access your mixed voice:
Contrary to popular belief, raising your soft palate won't actually help you reach those high notes. It can make you sound shouty and lead to straining your voice when belting.
Instead, try lowering the soft palate, allowing air to flow through your nasal passage. This will help balance your sound, relieve strain from your vocal cords, and enable you to access your mixed voice. You can unlock your nasal resonance (and thus lower your soft palate) by adding a nasal consonant like "NG" at the end of your belting exercises. While it may feel strange at first, it will benefit you in the long run as you get accustomed to it.
Here's a helpful exercise: Sing the words "Gang Gang Gang" on a major triad, starting from the highest note (e.g., G, E, C). You can touch your nostril with your finger to feel for a "buzzing sensation," which indicates nasal resonance. If your belt still sounds too harsh, try changing the words to "Yang Yang Yang" instead.
2. You don't have any power in your belt and flip to your head voice right away:
As you may already know, a good belt sounds incredibly powerful. If you’re struggling to add power to your voice, you may need to focus on increasing compression. Compression refers to the degree to which the vocal folds come together. You can achieve this by incorporating a glottal into your exercises, such as D, G, or B.
Try this exercise: Sing the words “Day Day Day” on a major triad, starting from the highest note (e.g., G, E, C). Try to stay in your chest voice as long as you can.
If you find yourself singing very quietly, you may need to increase your volume to achieve the desired result. However, if you are already a loud singer, avoid adding extra volume as this can strain your vocal cords.
3. You want your belts to be brighter, like the ones of Demi Lovato or Jennifer Hudson:
Experiment with adding twang to your voice. Think of Janice from Friends or the chorus of "Teenage Dirtbag" by Wheatus. These are quite extreme examples, but it’s okay to exaggerate at first and balance it out later. Belting with twang is generally easier because it adds compression to your voice even as you ascend in pitch. However, try not to rely too heavily on twang to reach high notes, as we aim for control over our voice.
Try this: Sing "Nyeh" on a major triad with a twangy sound, starting from the highest note (e.g., G, E, C).
4. You sound a bit like Kermit the Frog:
If you tend to sound like Kermit the Frog when you're belting, you might be pulling your tongue back into your throat, also known as the Knurdle. Try doing your belting exercises with your tongue sticking out and focus on the open space in the back of your throat. Over time, you'll become accustomed to it, and your tongue placement will improve.
Try the following exercise: Sing "Yeey yeey yeey" with your tongue out, starting from the highest note (e.g., G, E, C).
5. You feel like you’ve tried everything, but you’re still feeling tension when doing your belts:
A lot of things can cause tension when singing, such as: lack of nasal resonance, excessive raising of your larynx, tongue tension, or jaw tension. You might also be breathing too high in your chest or using too much or too little air. Additionally, stress or a lack of confidence can contribute to tension when singing, and it's more common than you might think.
Sometimes, it can be tough to figure out what's going on with your voice, especially because it's hard to judge it objectively by yourself. At times, you may feel stuck, experimenting with methods that simply don't align with your voice, as everyone's vocal journey is unique and presents different challenges.
But don't worry, voice teachers are there to help you understand your voice better and find solutions that work for you.
Nina Standaert
Voice Teacher Nina
