MUSICAL

THEATER IN THE CLASSICAL VOICE STUDIO:

FINDING A UNIFIED PEDAGOGICAL APPROACH THROUGH A DISCUSSION
OF THE RESEARCH ON AND MISCONCEPTIONS OF BELTING

Presented by Jeb Mueller and Jeffrey Stern
Florida Music Educators Association Conference
January 13, 2012

PHYSIOLOGY REVIEW
- Cartilage
o Cricoid cartilage: sits on top of the upper most ring of the trachea
o Thyroid cartilage: two plates fused together to form a V (apex is Adams apple). Lower
end is attached to the cricoid, allowing a rocking motion back-and-forth.
o Arytenoid cartilage: triangular pyramids mounted on upper edge of back of cricoid
cartilage
- Muscles move the cartilage
o Intrinsic muscles: both muscle attachments within larynx
o Thyro-arytenoid: origin in thyroid, inserts in arytenoid (Vocalis forms main mass of the
vocal folds)
o Crico-thyroid: fan-shaped muscle acts as vocal fold stretcher; helps elongate the folds by
increasing the distance between the arytenoid and thyroid cartilages.
WHY AND HOW DID IT DEVELOP?
- Early theater styles (Viennese operetta, opera buffe, Vaudeville)
o Lighter style - more classical, lighter orchestration
o Less dramatic music (more like a modern review than a plot-oriented play)
- African-American folk music
o Relationship between singing and speech singers go back and forth between the two,
making it hard to tell, at times, when doing one or the other
o Performances often take place outdoors projection demands of shout quality,
especially in middle & lower voices
o Shout quality furthered by later popular genres (blues, R&B, rock & roll)
o Electronics used for instruments further the demands on the singers
- Musical theater becomes more dramatic in the 1940s
o Music advances plot
o More vocal & dramatic demands on the singer
o Orchestrations influenced by jazz, includes more brass & woodwinds
DEFINITIONS
- While there are differences in approach to teaching classical voice, most agree on the
fundamental concepts and the physiological aspects; however, this is not the case with non-
classical styles. (Ragsdale, 5)
- Many different definitions exist.
o LoVetri (2003): Belting is just a label given to a certain aspect of chest register function.
This definition is supported by decades of use in the theatrical community to characterize
a specific type of singing and singer who could be heard at the back of a house long

before there was electronic amplification. Chest register in an opera singer behaves
entirely differently than chest register in a pop singer.
o Lebon (1999): Belting might be: vocal production that proceeds out of the speaking
range, with the prosody of speech, and that promotes a sense of spontaneity and
aggressiveness.
o Edwin (1998): One of the major problems in defining belting covers an enormous
amount of vocal territory, far more than its counter term legitimate, or legit in
Broadway shorthand.
o Susan Boardman: It (belting) is definitely not chest voice pulled up, but it is indeed
another whole mode of using the voice.
Ragsdale synthesizes common belt descriptors among classical and non-classical voice teachers:
o lots of ring, brassiness, twangy, loud, bright
Belting does not seem to function differently than chest voice.
o David Alt uses light mechanism and heavy mechanism instead of head voice and
chest voice.
o Ragsdale: Perhaps these latter terms need to be abandoned because they are associated
with their use in classical singing which seems to be a different function than from
belting.
Bright sound is created via a tuning of the resonator to support maximum brightness. (David
Alt)
o Small vocal tract promotes a brighter sound
o Tongue tends to be higher in the mouth

STUDIES - WHAT IS PHYSICALLY GOING ON?

- Boardman (1987): Sees more differences than similarities between chest & belting voice
o Chest - low larynx; Belting high larynx (closer to speech)
o More air used in chest voice
o In low range, chest voice has richness & warmth; belt voice gets weak
o Vocalis (thyroarytenoid) muscle highly engaged when belting, but not in lower chest
voice.
- Bevan (1989): Determines that the two placements are perceptually and acoustically different
o Examines differences between chest & belting voice, and how the two sound to listeners
o Conflicts with those who argue belting is simply chest voice singing in a higher range
- Schutte & Miller (1993): Belting is loud singing characterized by consistent use of chest register;
high larynx position
- Edwin (1998): Series of articles specifically on belting
o Part of the difficulty of defining is its chest voice dominant quality
o Belting is not chest voice singing; rather it is the coordinated activity of the
thyroarytenoid and cricothyroid vocal fold activity that, although thyroarytenoid
dominant, is influenced by increased cricothyroid activity, especially as the scale
ascends.
o Higher larynx narrower pharyngeal space than classical singing
- Lesh, LoVetri, Woo (1999): Study of seven professional Broadway singers
o Found that larynx was unchanged or lower, pharyngeal walls wider when they belted
o Hypothesize because singers have learned to adapt after singing 8 shows per week
- Popeil (1999):
o Larynx unchanged or lowered when belting
o Less space between tongue and pharyngeal wall

o Head tilts back slightly any narrowing of pharyngeal cavity

Bestebreurtje & Schutte (2000):
o Loud and bright qualities in belting accomplished by raising formants (articulators)
higher harmonics
o Does not explain any changes in vocal folds to accomplish this sound

WHO BELTS?
- Some believe that belting for men and women is the same, but considerable disagreements
continue about whether or not men belt.
o David Alt: men do belt but its a non-issue because it so closely resembles normal
singing.
o Vowel modification theory:
General descriptors: less depth, shallower, more forward, more spread
Neil Semer: A lot of men singing in that style will keep a wider positioning of the
vowels and call that belting. I would simply call that spread vowels.
o Speech-like theory:
Edwin: My experience has been that if you take a classical singer, usually with a
belt sound they can sing approximately a minor third higher. So, for example, if
you have a baritone that goes to G with their classical voice, they often san sing an
A or even a Bb with that pop sound quality because its so much less weight on the
vocal folds because theyre producing a much more narrow sound, a much more
speech-like sound.
Soft palate is high with speech level larynx
o Issue of registers:
Ragsdale: Women have to access the head voice, creating a mix, earlier than men
since men sing in a more natural speaking or chest register for a greater distance
of their range.
Some believe an open or spread production is not healthy in the male voice
through the passaggio and above.

VOCAL HEALTH
A difference of opinion continues on whether one can or cannot belt healthily.
- CANNOT:
o If you are belting, you are not singing safely; if you are singing safely, you are not
belting. (Elizabeth Howell)
Creates pressed phonation
Taking the chest voice up too high
Too much subglottal pressure
Improper support
Tension in extrinsic muscles
Tension in the tongue
o Abusive rehearsal and performance schedules for belters creates an inability to stay
vocally healthy, especially singing in such an athletic manner.
- CAN:
o Studies suggest that those who belt and have healthy voices have more similarities to
classical singing with regard to technique.
o just like classical singing, which can be done unhealthily, perhaps belting can also be
done unhealthily. (Ragsdale, 10)

o Singers need to be aware of the difference between pressed phonation and flow
phonation musculature needs to be relaxed rather than tensed (Joan Lader)
o Hygiene:
Mark during rehearsals
Stay hydrated
o Training:
Connection to breath
Vary repertoire (balance)
Modify vowels on upper end of register
SUGGESTIONS FOR TEACHERS
- Do not uniformly discourage singers from pursuing this form of production.
o Popular style in todays musical world
o Gets people singing
o Choral perspective: can bring new members to your ensembles
- Use classical training to teach the style of production
- Stay informed of the latest research
o Many constantly changing opinions
o More researchers interested in this topic
- Communication between singer and teacher is critical.
o How does it feel?
o Where is the placement?
o What do you hear?
- Programming ideas
o Many ethnic music styles are produced through belting-like production
Remember: not originally intended to be sung by trained musicians
o Consider singing lighter music early in program.
Harder to sing lightly after full-throated singing
Pitch intonation issues are more likely if not enough head register is incorporated
into the sound
o Recognize that any physical movement will likely affect the vocal production.
o Understand intonation will likely fluctuate in beginners.
FINAL THOUGHTS
- In 2004 the demand for contemporary commercial music singers in North America
outweigh[ed] that of traditional classical singers. (Ragsdale, 1)
- The current interest in musical theater has caused an unprecedented demand for teachers with
expertise in both classical and musical theater styles. (LoVetri &Weekly)
- To the teacher who must deal with belters now and cannot wait for future research studies,
take comfortthe singer can be separated from a particular style in order to explore technical
matters, and these new insights can then be integrated into a given style to the degree that the
style permits. It is not suggested that teachers abdicate their ethical responsibilities to advocate
a healthy vocal technique. It is suggested that our profession has a responsibility to all singers,
not just to those whose aesthetic preference we agree with. (Doscher)

Bibliography

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Single Female Study Subject. Journal of Voice 14, no. 2 (June 2000): 194-204.

Bevan, Ronald Verle. Belting and Chest Voice: Perceptual Differences and Spectral Correlates. Ed.D.
diss., Columbia University Teachers College, 1989.

Boardman, Susan D. Voice Training for the Musical Theater Singer (Broadway). DMA diss., University
of Cincinnati, 1987.

Doscher, Barbara M. The Functional Unity of the Singing Voice, 2nd ed. Landham, MD: Scarecrow Press,
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Edwards, Darryl. Belting the Healthy Way! The Canadian Music Educator 44, no. 2 (Winter 2002): 34.

Edwin, Robert. The Bach to Rock Connection: Belting 101. Journal of Singing 55, no. 1 (October 1998):
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