Zero chest voice/belt- should I even bother?

College Majors Musical Theater Major
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<p>I am a classically-trained soprano of 2 years whose voice is definitely all "legit." My chest voice is non-existent, and I don't even try to belt lest my throat explodes. </p>

<p>I've been told that having a classical background can be an inconvenience for contemporary musical theatre styles, mainly because most classical sopranos aren't given instruction on how to develop a chest voice/belt. </p>

<p>This, I've also been told, is a gigantic disadvantage when applying for MT programs. Is this true? Should I focus on an Acting degree instead, find an instructor with a musical theatre background, or is all of this about colleges preferring belters not necessarily true at all?</p>

<p>Sorry if there's any confusion, I'm just very panicked about this entire ordeal.</p>

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<p>Hi! I am almost done with auditions and I am a legit soprano, don’t worry about it because it makes us unique!! One of my audition songs was legit musical theatre styled, and the other was contemporary styled-but I mix and don’t belt. Being classically trained is great because you can eventually be taught how to belt/power mix. And it’s definitely not true that all colleges prefer belters, they usually look for a mix of all different types of voices.</p>

<p>Also…because I have a classical styled voice I also auditioned for vocal performance/opera programs which I recommend you should do as well! </p>

<p>Don’t be panicked at all, you will do great (:</p>

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<p>My daughter has no belt either. Her voice teacher helped her pick appropriate song to show off her range and acting. She currently has 3 acceptances in MT (2 BFA and 1 BA). Trust me, you are not fully developed yet. Her voice teacher explained that she may even develop a belting voice in the next few years. College is for growth and development. This is why you are go ing there instead of straight into the field - right?</p>

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<p>Strong classical voice training is the best to start from and colleges know that. However, if you can get instruction in how to mix/belt before auditions, it would just give you that much more of an edge. We live in Oregon, and I did a 3 state search to find an instructor who also had classical background and legit, long term training in how to move my daughter into a mix/belt voice. Many teachers say they can, but only really have some workshops under their belt, not true training. Sooooo, we ended up doing Skype for 6 months with an excellent teacher/performer from MTCA (who have been mentioned here numerous times for coaching) who taught vocal technique while other coaches worked with my d on audition songs and monologues. I only wish my d had started the vocal instruction earlier. The cost is the same as for most local voice teachers, and the instructor was highly approved by my daughter’s classical voice teacher who trained at very well known vocal graduate programs. MTCA is also headed up by a medical voice therapist and vocal pathologist (Coach C on CC) so all instruction is monitored to make sure that you are learning to mix/belt the correct way. You can locate their website by googling Musical Theatre College Auditions, or send Coach C a pm. You only have to pay for the type and amount of lessons/coaching you want, not a cover for a package program. My daughter is now a sophomore at NYU Steinhardt, Vocal Performance/MT and I KNOW it was due to her vocal training and coaching with MTCA.</p>

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<p>And there are a number of MT programs that appreciate the legit voice! Look at OCU, FSU, Indiana University, and NYU-Steinhardt (as Christie2 mentioned). My D is also a classically trained soprano with not really a belt to speak of, and she got into Ithaca and OCU’s MT programs this year, and just got put on the short list for Indiana…and we still have 8 more schools to hear from. </p>

<p>You are in a good place. One school (I think it was Indiana) described classical voice training as the ballet of voice. I second Christie’s suggestion of looking for a good coach (we also used MTCA and recommend them highly) to help you pick your schools wisely and pick songs that show off your legit voice! </p>

<p>Do not give up and try not to panic. There will always be a need for the classical voice…not all shows are pop/rock! And a good college program will help you develop a mix (or even a belt) so you are competitive in all genre. Good luck!</p>

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<p>If you are classically trained, no doubt you have wonderful voice instruction. With all due respect to the posters above, I would caution against listening to anecdotal evidence of being coached in belting. As I understand it, the young voice is very delicate, and you can do lifelong damage by pushing. If singing a certain way hurts, I gather you are supposed to stop!
Your voice is your ticket to a life in the arts, and I would be very careful with it. What concerns me is there are many people out here in the world that are aware how many kids are interested in musical theater, and are all too willing to take your money. I think anywhere in this country there are amazing voice teachers who can help you.I think it is important to know your strengths, and to not try to be something you aren’t. I imagine if you pick a contemporary song, and act the hell out of it, that will take you far. This is musical “theater”, not just singing after all.
And if you are more well suited to classical music, so be it!
I would like to believe people can achieve whatever they want, but there are exceptions in life that should be considered.Knowing who you are, and embracing that should help you in your auditions and in life.</p>

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<p>My D tells me all the time she’s not a belter and she has a spot in a program next year. I’m sure there’s one for you too.</p>

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<p>I have to add here that this (belting) and in particular the high belt, is a relatively recent phenom in the history of MT. While the chest belt has been around a long time, the popularity of the extreme/ over the top/ high belt is largely a product of what I will call the Idolization of the Wicked Nation! And even when done correctly, takes its toll. Anyone else agree? </p>

<p>I kinda wish people would just stop screamin! But often audiences (who, I am convinced cannot tell the difference – or don’t care – if someone is screamin or singing) reward that type of thing. Kinda sad. Almost like a blood sport. Maybe its because the babyboom (current MT audience demographic) grew up listening to Jagger/Joplin screach! Whatever the cause, my preference is a beautiful ballad.</p>

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<p>Good point! All the more reason to take it easy and be good to your voice. Styles could change- hardly worth doing damage to your instrument.</p>

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<p>Felicia Ricci (one of Broadway’s Elphabas) in her entertaining book “Unnaturally Green” referred to the songs she had to sing as “Songs of Death”. It was pretty interesting to read the tricks that the Elphabas need to sort out to get to those “notes of death” in a belt. Makes one appreciate the science behind the art but also cringe a bit. My throat hurt just thinking about her description of “butter coated razor blades” etc.</p>

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<p>I’m not a singer, but it is my understanding that recent research has shown that belting, if done properly, is actually less harmful to the voice than operatic singing. I think one of our resident vocal experts published a link to the research not long ago. If someone remembers where that thread is it might be worth linking here.</p>

<p>D knows a woman who has been Elphaba on national tours for MANY years and her voice is in better shape now than ever, so I don’t think vocal strain is a necessary part of that role (but I could be wrong).</p>

<p>Our D was initially classically trained, and I also love a good ballad, but I think high belting (screlting?) conveys particular emotions that are otherwise musically inaccessible, so I understand why audiences respond to it.</p>

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<p>It’s all about technique and finding the right teacher. That’s is not easy and “experts” will forever disagree. My daughter who is a natural belter, also, began with classical training. One of her teachers cringed at the mere mention of the word “belt” and had the poor child so terrified she was going to damage her voice that we eventually realized it was doing her more harm than good. The next teacher (an hour away) explained that just the word belt means different things to different people. He said he wasn’t going to call it belting either but he would teach her to make the sounds she was after in a safe way. The change after 3 months of lessons was amazing.</p>

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<p>I’ve posted on similar topics before and thought I would stay out of this topic, but I just read a great article the other day and I can’t not say a few things.</p>

<p>In general, the only teachers debating whether or not the chest voice is involved in singing are those who are not reading the research or paying attention to what’s been happening in the last ten years. </p>

<p>In the scientific community chest voice is understood to mean involvement of the thyroarytenoid muscle. There is without a doubt chest voice involvement exists within the entire range of the singing voice. How can I say that? Because a team of scientists in California placed needles into the thyroarytenoid and cricoarytenoid muscles during singing and measured (through electrical signals) the percentage of maximum exertion of each muscle in musical theatre and classical singing. In the highest soprano notes (in classical production) the thyroarytenoid (chest voice muscle) was activated at 20% of its maximum capability. In belt it was activated at 40% of its maximum and in mix belt it was activated at 60% of its maximum (Kochis-Jennings, Finnegan, Hoffman, Jaiswal. Journal of Voice, Vol. 26, N0. 2, 2012, p. 182-193). Trying to say that the chest voice is not present in classical singing, mixing, or belting is like saying the earth is flat. Its just not true.</p>

<p>What really peaked my interest this week was an article in the Journal of Singing, the official journal of the National Association of Teachers of Singing. NATS is a classical organization, they are trying to get serious about MT, but they are still struggling to catch up to the vocal production expected on Broadway (I’m on the board of my state and we see it all the time in the auditions and audition comments). The article in the NATS journal is by a professor at University of North Texas, Stephen F. Austin, who is a classical voice teacher. Here is what he had to say about the chest voice. </p>

<p>“It was common knowledge in the eighteenth century that if a voice were weak and frail you could make it stronger by exercising the chest voice…When the TA muscle (chest voice) is strong and bulky, the vocal folds are rounded and thick from top to bottom and vibrate in a way that produces a complex tone that has a lot of energy in the upper partials, giving fullness and ring to the voice. When the TA (chest voice) is weak and underdeveloped the tone is less robust and even frail…Many voice teachers choose not to train the chest voice because the quality of the tone does not fit into their aesthetic model or preference. This is unfortunate. If the full potential of the instrument is to be realized the chest register must be exercised and integrated.” Stephen F. Austin, Journal of Singing, March/April 2013, Vol. 69, No. 4, pp. 479-486.</p>

<p>The reason some teachers do not like the chest voice quality is rooted in racism and classism. That’s probably not why they personally do not like it, but it more than likely had an influence on the teachers that taught them or the teachers that taught their teachers believed. The early belters were called shouters. More crudely they were called coon shouters, a derogatory term used to describe black female performers in minstrel shows. (The term comes from “Zip Coon” a derogatory name for the post-civil war “free Black” character who tried to dress and “act” white.) In fact, Ethel Merman was once even called a coon shouter in a review in the L.A. Times. </p>

<p>Voice teachers and choral directors in Victorian England saw voice pedagogy as a way to improve the culture of lower class citizens by teaching them more proper ways of speaking through vocal training. They attempted to go into African colonies and teach English choral tradition as a way of reforming the “savages.” Back in the United States, the FCC was formed as a means to keeping un-cultured music off of the air in the early days of radio. However, radio stations were looking for a business model and they soon discovered the potential of selling advertisements. The advertisers wanted to reach the widest audience base possible, so they began forcing radio stations to play dance music – the popular music of the time. Dance music came from African-American traditions (jazz and blues) and soon bands began adding singers. Artists such as Little Richard jumped into the early rock market and soon record executives realized they could make money by hiring white performers to soften up the songs and use a more cultured vocal production (that’s how Pat Boone made his money in the early days).</p>

<p>The history books are full of details that give insight into the biases against the chest voice. Science has long since proven that chest voice singing is not harmful. Screaming however is extremely harmful. I think the problem is that many teachers think they know how to teach the belt voice (just sing loud and brassy) and their students end up screaming and getting hurt. Those of us who know how to teach it properly have long histories of producing students who successfully belt year after year without vocal damage. I sang at an opera company for four years that produced five singers with vocal damage in the time I was there. So it cannot be said that classical training is any safer, they just hide it better because they are not on the road singing every night of the week. Cancelling one or two gigs consisting of six to ten performances may buy them three to six months of vocal rest. For a contemporary singer, six to ten performances only buys a week to a week and a half. You have to remember, opera singers get paid per night ($3,000 to $20,000) compared to Broadway performers who get paid by the week (currently around $1650). Canceling as an opera singer hurts, but if you have a big paying gig a few months down the road, you’ll make enough money to cancel a gig to rest your voice.</p>

<p>For more info on the historical facts above, you can read the following:</p>

<p>Shaping the Popular Image of American Blacks : The Post-Reconstruction “ Coon Song ” Phenomenon of the Gilded Age. (2012)., 40(4), 450–471.</p>

<p>Niles, J. J. (2012). SHOUT , COON , SHOUT ! The Musical Quarterly, 16(4), 516–530. Retrieved from [JSTOR:</a> An Error Occurred Setting Your User Cookie](<a href=“http://www.jstor.org/stable/738617]JSTOR:”>Shout, Coon, Shout! on JSTOR)</p>

<p>Mooney, H. F. (1954). Songs , Singers and Society, 1890-1954. American Quarterly, 6(3), 221–232.</p>

<p>Lockheart, P. (2003). A History of Early Microphone Singing, 1925–1939: American
Mainstream Popular Singing at the Advent of Electronic Microphone Amplification. Popular
Music and Society, 26(3), 367–385. doi:10.1080/0300776032000117003</p>

<p>Critics, B. M. (2012). Black Music Critics and The Classic Blues Singers *, 14(2), 103–125.</p>

<p>Press, I. (2012). National Identity in Snyder and Berlin ’ s “ That Opera Rag ”, 22(3), 380–406.</p>

<p>Epstein, D. J. (1982). Sinful Tunes and Spirituals, Black Folk Music to the Civil War. Phylon, 43(4), 385–386.</p>

<p>Szatmary, D. P. (1996). A time to rock: a social history of rock and roll (p. 367). New York: Schirmer Books. Retrieved from [A</a> Time to Rock: A Social History of Rock and Roll - David P. Szatmary - Google Books](<a href=“A Time to Rock: A Social History of Rock and Roll - David P. Szatmary - Google Books”>A Time to Rock: A Social History of Rock and Roll - David P. Szatmary - Google Books)</p>

<p>Wollman, E. L. (2006). The Theater Will Rock: A History of the Rock Musical : from Hair to Hedwig (Vol. 2006, p. 271). Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press. Retrieved from [The</a> Theater Will Rock: A History of the Rock Musical : from Hair to Hedwig - Elizabeth L. Wollman - Google Books](<a href=“The Theater Will Rock: A History of the Rock Musical, from Hair to Hedwig - Elizabeth L. Wollman - Google Books”>The Theater Will Rock: A History of the Rock Musical, from Hair to Hedwig - Elizabeth L. Wollman - Google Books)</p>

<p>Crawford, R. (2001). An Introduction to America’s Music (p. 555). New York: Norton & Comp.</p>

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<p>@VoiceTeacher – thanks for yet another very interesting post FILLED with things I didn’t know!</p>

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<p>THANK YOU, Voice Teacher! I’ve been trying to find time to post my response to this thread and you shared some wonderful information. Working in a laryngology practice in NYC, I see just as many classical singers as MT’s - and keep in mind that all vocal trouble is NOT “nodes” and also NOT always a result of vocal abuse!!! I didn’t share this last year b/c there wasn’t an appropriate thread to do so, but almost exactly a year ago, I had vocal fold surgery to remove an injury called a pseudocyst. Did I get it from belting? No - I belted for many years without any damage, and still can. I got it b/c I have an underlying weakeness of one vocal fold called a paresis, which is nerve damage that was the result of a viral infection (yes, a common cold)! For 2 years, I had this paresis and belted and sang legit with no vocal fold trouble - and then I got another cold, sneezed a lot over 4 days, and bam, there was the pseudocyst, probably encouraged by the fact that my left vocal fold has to work harder to close due to the paresis and my violent sneezes were violent closures of my vocal folds. </p>

<p>MANY people who have vocal lesions, both classical and legit singers, either have a paresis OR an anatomic gap at the back of their larynx. That gap is just how some women’s larynges are built. The latter group, regardless of what type of singing they do and how “good” their technique is, are more inclined to develop nodules - BECAUSE OF HOW THEIR LARYNGES ARE BUILT. </p>

<p>Also worth noting - MOST singers, both professional and non, who get lesions of any type do so primarily b/c of their NON-SINGING vocal behaviors!!</p>

<p>Rant over - sort of. :slight_smile: It’s so incredibly HARMFUL to young singers’ knowledge base and psyches when urban myths about musical theatre singing are passed around by uninformed or under-informed sources. No one, “expert” or not, should comment about “damaging” singing technique unless they truly KNOW, from a scientific and medical perspective, what actually occurs in the larynx and what is and is not truly damaging and how. Otherwise, the world remains flat - ya know?</p>

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<p>@SoperaNOPE - By the way, I don’t think any of this discussion is meant to imply that you can’t enjoy great success with college auditions with your classical voice, but only to urge you to consider that learning to belt correctly at some point could add to your toolbox and need not do any harm to your instrument.</p>

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<p>Agreed, MomCares - I know I sidetracked a little with my rant - heartfelt, though! :slight_smile: SoperaNOPE, chances are you CAN produce a non-legit sound really well - a strong mix. Work on that with your teacher, as most schools do want to see some contrast in vocal production, but “belt” doesn’t have to be the contrast!</p>

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<p>This has turned into a very informative thread. Printing and keeping. I find the science behind the art of all of this fascinating.</p>

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<p>Wow, just came back to this thread and found a wealth of information! Thanks Voice Teacher and others! I do not profess to know what causes a voice to falter after years. I just know that it happens to some. It has been very interesting to hear perspectives and theories about the why of it all.</p>

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<p>Very interesting stuff! Learned a ton, and happy not to perpetuate any myths if they are just myths. Great that there is increasing science about the subject.</p>

<p>What I don’t understand though, is if it hurts a singers throat to belt, and they feel hoarse afterwards, wouldn’t that be bad? Or, are you saying it is similar to an athlete who may be sore after training, but is none the worse for wear?Does it just mean their chest voice needs developed? I don’t mean to sound stupid, but I am not sure I get it. If belting can be learned, and it is not harmful, what is the safe way to go about it?</p>