♬
Hi everybody!
My name is Justin Stoney and I'm the founder of
New York Vocal Coaching here in New York City.
Welcome to episode 70 of Voice Lessons To The World.
And, part one of our How To Belt Trilogy.
♪ Yeah ♪
Yeah...
[hits piano]
So, yes that's right we're going to take three whole episodes
to talk about how to belt.
Because I know you guys really want to know about some of
these contemporary vocal techniques that are out there.
So, we're gonna take our question first which is from
Ernest C. in Singapore City, Singapore.
And Ernest writes, "Dear Justin, what is belting?"
And Ernest I've got to thank you my friend.
Because that is a perfect question
to kick off our How To Belt Trilogy.
♪ Yeah ♪
Yeah!
[hits piano]
So, what is belting?
That's the first thing we need to ask ourselves.
And, I know that belting is one of those principles
that you're going to here a lot of different things,
different methods, different singing teachers,
different people say different things.
That's okay!
We're going to create a definition that
helps you guys see that belting is a very nuanced technique.
There's lots involved in belting.
It's not just one thing.
But what we're gonna say today is that
belting is the drag of a stronger register of the voice,
or a stronger gear, up into a lighter register
or a lighter gear.
So let me show you in my speaking voice.
If I just take my voice up...
♪ Ah ♪
It wants to go to Falsetto.
My chest voice wants to break into my falsetto register.
But what if I don't do it?
What if I just drag it right past where it wanted to switch?
And I do...
♪ Ah ♪
Then I'm really dragging chest voice past that point
where it wanted to switch.
And it's kind of like a yell.
♪ Ah ♪
It's a shout, or a belt!
[hits piano]
Okay, so now that's just one example.
That's dragging my chest voice up.
I can also drag a mix up,
a chest dominant mix, a mix, a head mix,
maybe I could drag my falsetto upwards
or create a reinforced falsetto kind of sound.
There are lots of different varieties of belting.
Not only that but there's also a lot of acoustical
things that we can do to make the voice sound beltier.
Now we're going to look at all these things together.
But that's what I want you guys to really
know about belting.
Is that it's a drag of a stronger gear
up past the point where it wants to switch.
That's common to basically all belting.
And then we'll throw the bells and whistles on there later.
But today what we're going to look at is that
drag of pure chest voice, alright.
Now this is the one that gets a bad rap
because this is the one that is actually
kind of like a yell.
It's really that shout.
But, not everybody can just do this voice.
It's very common actually for people to have
slightly weaker chest voices
and not actually be able to yell it out.
We make that assumption that anybody can just yell it out there.
But actually no.
It's tough for some singers.
But that's our first step today, is learning about dragging chest voice.
So what we're gonna do is I'm first going to
show you in a song example.
Then I'm going to give you some tips
and we're gonna try it together in an exercise.
But the song that we're gonna look at today is
"Use Somebody" by Kings Of Leon.
So in this song it's really gonna be a
true drag of chest voice, almost a shout.
It's not going to be a protected kind of sound.
It's not even gonna be a mix.
Nope, just that drag of pure chest voice
past where it wants to go.
Which is a really common sound in contemporary singing.
So here we go with "Use Somebody" by Kings Of Leon.
♪
♪ I've been roaming around always looking down ♪
♪ At all I see ♪
♪
♪ Painted faces fill the places I can't reach ♪
♪
♪ You know that I could use somebody ♪
♪
♪ You know that I could use somebody ♪
♪
♪ Someone like you ♪
♪ Whoa ♪
♪
♪ Someone like you ♪
♪ Whoa ♪
♪
So you see that's that drag of chest voice.
It's a lot of a shout in the sound.
And again, that's a very common sound
that you hear in contemporary singing.
So you can tell it's not a protected thing.
♪ Whoa ♪
It's nothing like that, nope.
♪ Whoa ♪
Straight out, full belting.
A really important sound to know.
So next what we're going to do
is look at some tips and then an exercise
that can help you guys develop that
drag of pure chest in your voice.
So here's a few tips when you're working on
getting that kind of pulled up, chest drag
for your belting.
First of all, is this a healthy belt?
Like we've talked about in the past, a "healthy" one?
Well yes, it can be.
But also we have to know this is
a pretty athletic coordination.
This can be the way that some people hurt their voices.
By just yelling it out there all the time.
If you do this in moderation and if you do this sensitively,
it won't be harmful for your voice.
So how do we do that?
Well, you need to listen to yourself.
Does this hurt?
It should not hurt.
Are you getting hoarse when you're doing it?
You should not be getting hoarse.
It's a little bit athletic, so it might be
slightly vocally fatiguing.
But it shouldn't be something that's causing you pain
or making you hoarse.
Those are big warning signs.
So listen to your body.
But if you do this in moderation you will find
that this is a nice addition to your overall singing.
Next, this one is gonna go out the mouth, alright.
We talk a lot about incorporating nasal resonance
and head resonance into the sound.
Those are things that help with the mix.
This is not the time for that.
This is...
♪ Whoa ♪
Right? Not...
♪ Whoa ♪
We're not putting the air in,
in this kind of belting we're letting the air out.
Remember too, this is chest voice.
So you need to speak boldly into the sound.
You need to use your speaking voice.
This kind of sound is not "pretty singing".
So if you try to make this kind of belting "pretty"
you're going to have a lot of trouble with it.
Not all kinds of singing are beautiful sounds.
Some can be a little bit more edgy.
So when you're going for this belt
don't try to be too pretty with it.
Finally, this does still require good breath support.
If you use a constant air flow
and don't get too much louder on the high notes,
they're going to be loud but don't get louder,
don't force air it, then it's going to be
way healthier and way more sustainable
even though chest dragging is an athletic coordination.
So those are some things to keep in mind.
And now we're gonna try an exercise.
So this exercise is gonna help you guys to
drag that chest voice, that pure belt, up.
And so what we're gonna do is a W-H Whoa!
Kings of Leon WHOA exercise.
We're going to use "Use Somebody" in order
to help us to build our belts higher.
Now I'm gonna have girls and guys on the same notes.
But at a certain moment I'm gonna have
guys drop out and ladies will continue.
This is because guys and girls voices do work
a little differently.
And there's only a certain point where
I want you guys and girls dragging chest voice.
Later I promise we're going higher
in other episodes.
But today it's full chest voice.
It doesn't need to go that high.
So here we go with a Kings Of Leon WHOA.
It's gonna be this...
♪ Whoa ♪
And here we go...
♪ Whoa ♪
So nice.
♪
Fantastic.
♪
You got it.
♪ Whoa ♪
Awesome!
♪
That's the idea.
♪ Whoa ♪
Awesome!
Now guys let's have you cut out, ladies continue on up.
♪
Awesome.
♪
So nice!
♪
Good for you.
♪
That's the idea!
♪
Fantastic.
♪
Good.
♪
And now guys, join us again...
♪ Whoa ♪
Excellent!
♪
A few more!
♪ Whoa ♪
That's the idea!
♪
Great.
♪ Whoa ♪
Last one...
♪ Whoa ♪
♪
Wonderful!
I say, Whoa!
That was awesome.
So I hope that helped you guys to
drag chest voice and that chest dominant belt
up a little bit higher and really work
that coordination in your voice.
Now, like I say, there's so many other
belt coordinations that do go higher
and involve different aspects of the voice.
And that's why this is just part one
of our How To Belt Trilogy.
♪ Yeah ♪
Uh.
Right...
[hits piano]
So, I hope that's been helpful for you guys today as singers.
If you've got questions that you'd like answered on the show
you can send an email to Questions@VoiceLessonsToTheWorld.com.
So I just encourage you, don't lost that joy
don't lost that passion, don't let people tell you
that you can't sing.
You and I both know that is just not true.
Get with a great voice teacher in your area.
Or if you guys are in the New York City area [♪]
or you'd like to Skype with one of our Staff, [♪]
you can visit us at www.NewYorkVocalCoaching.com. [♪]
And I just encourage you guys to download our free app. [♪]
It's for iPad, iPhone, and hopefully more in the future. [♪]
A lot of great resources, tips, articles, videos, [♪]
lots of things there to help you guys [♪]
get to the next level on your singing journey. [♪]
So just keep working hard, work at that belt. [♪]
Be safe with it, be sensitive with it. [♪]
I know you guys are gonna really [♪]
incorporate that into your voice. [♪]
I'm Justin Stoney. [♪]
We'll see you next time. [♪]
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