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What is Belting and How to Belt Your Singing Voice

Let’s face it:

Is there anything cooler than a singer belting out an amazing high note?

So there’s no getting around it:

If you’re learning how to sing, you need to learn how to belt.

Bonus Upgrade: Download 5 exercises to learn to belt your singing voice.

But how do you belt your voice? What is a belter in singing? What is belting singing technique and how do you get it in your voice?

Today, let’s take a moment to define what belting means and what causes that amazing vocal sound. Then I’ll give you 5 vocal techniques to belt your singing voice today. And I promise if you follow these belting techniques, you’ll be amazed at how much power you can get on those high notes.

Let’s jump right in…

What is Belting?

What does belting sound like and how long does it take to learn belting in singing?

Well, before you start belting your face off, it’s good to know what belting is and take a look at some belting examples.

Here’s a video with belting singing examples:

What is Belting and How to Belt Your Singing Voice

Watch this video on YouTube

If you’re wondering how high a girl can belt, there’s your answer!

Some of the other best belting singers include: Whitney Houston, Aretha Franklin (of course!), Barbra Streisand, and many more.

Do men belt in singing?

For sure! Some great male belting singers include: Rod Stewart, Elton John, Chris Cornell, Axl Rose, and more. You can hear the roar of the jungle when Axl Rose unleashes his belt:

Belting Singing Meaning and Definition

With those examples out of the way, here’s my belting definition:

Belting is a singing term that refers to singing notes in your head voice range with the power of your chest voice. I like this definition because belting meanings in singing can be so confusing!

So what are chest voice and head voice?

Chest voice is an old term created by Italian singing teachers to refer to the range of notes at the bottom of your voice. Teachers found that when you placed your hand on your chest and sang low notes, you would feel a vibration.

Try this right now:

Place your hand on your chest and say your name out loud at a strong volume.

Feel that vibration?

That’s chest voice.

Usually when you start singing higher in your voice, you will feel that vibration start to move. As you sing higher, the vibration moves up to your neck and the back of your head. So the old Italian teachers called the notes at the top of your range head voice. Head voice is an old term created by Italian singing teachers to refer to the range of notes at the top of your voice.

Try this:

Place your hand on the back of your neck and sing an “ooh” vowel on a really high note.

Feel that vibration?

That’s head voice.

So now that you understand chest voice and head voice, let’s go back to our belting definition in singing: Belting in singing means singing notes in your head voice with the power of your chest voice.

So how can you do that? How can you belt in head voice with the same fullness and power of your chest voice?

First, let me tell you the truth:

There’s a right way and a wrong way to belt.

So before we go through the exercises, let me show you what most singers get wrong when they belt.

Proper Belting Technique: The Right and Wrong Way

Wait, so how do you describe belting? Is belting just yelling?

Kind of! Want to hear something crazy?

Belting has probably been around as long as there has been singing.

That’s because, yes, belting basically means yelling.

And yelling is a very primal instinct. We yell when we’re mad, excited, and afraid. So when people started singing, they would yell or belt notes to display emotion. Who invented belting? The entire human species has been belting for as long as they’ve wanted to convey powerful feelings through their voice.

But here’s the catch:

If you belt incorrectly, it’s very easy to damage your voice.

If you’ve ever yelled too much in a short period, you know exactly what I mean. Your voice gets hoarse when you yell. And belting in the wrong way can lead to hoarseness, nodules or even a vocal hemorrhage. So, is belting singing just yelling? More precisely, belting is correct yelling! The kind of yelling that conveys those raw, primal emotions without damaging your voice. With that in mind, let’s talk about what most people get wrong with belting.

Is Belting Bad for Your Voice?

In order to understand “bad” belting, you need a little background on the way the voice works.

Here’s what you need to know:

All singing comes from the vocal cords.

The vocal cords come together to resist the air from your lungs.

And when they resist the air through breath support, they create vibrations.

In order to sing low notes, your vocal cords have to be very thick. Thick vocal cords will vibrate slowly and that’s how you sing a low note. These thick vocal cords are also what created the chest voice when you felt the vibration with your hand. In order to sing high notes, your vocal cords have to be thin. Thin vocal cords vibrate faster and that’s how you sing a high note. These thin vocal cords are what created the head voice you felt with your hand on the back of your neck. Now that you understand how the chest voice and head voice are created by the vocal cords, let’s look at the definition of belting one last time: Belting means singing notes in your head voice range with the power and strength of your chest voice.

So what do most singers do wrong when they’re belting? And what are the possible dangers of belting?

Well, most of the time a vocalist will sing with too much chest voice on the high notes in their range. And since the vocal cords are too thick for the note they’re singing, the extra pressure and tension can really hurt their voice. So “bad” belting means basically “yelling” your chest voice into the head voice register. And 99% of the time, if you belt incorrectly, the notes will be strained because the vocal cords are too tense for the note you’re singing.

Can You Belt in Falsetto?

On the topic of bad belting, let’s address one other related question: can you belt in falsetto?

This one’s a plain and simple no.

Why? Because falsetto singing happens when your vocal cords do not completely come together during sound production. They leave a gap.

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This gap creates the hollow, airy, glasslike falsetto tone that some people really like. However, that same gap prevents power from building up in the vocal cords, which makes singing loudly impossible.

And what’s a word for singing loudly? Belting, of course!

But what about high notes in general? Can Sopranos belt?

Luckily, here the answer is a resounding yes!

As discussed above, belting works best in the head voice range. Sopranos and people with higher ranges can definitely belt.

Just don’t break into your falsetto and you’re good to go.

So now that you understand “bad” belting, let’s talk about the right way to belt.

How to Belt (Without Losing Your Voice)

Here’s the good news:

Anyone can learn to belt correctly!

It just takes some practice and the right singing techniques to learn proper belting technique. So now that you know what “bad” belting is, let’s talk about “good” belting.

To understand how to belt correctly, remember the definition of bad belting:

Bad belting happens when you use too much chest voice on your head voice notes (i.e. yelling your chest voice into your head voice range). But since the vocal cords are too thick for the note you’re singing, you’ll probably strain and sing off pitch. In good belting, you’re singing high notes with the right balance of chest voice and head voice. And if all the high notes have a good balance of chest voice and head voice, they’ll be incredibly powerful and clear. That’s because if your vocal cords are the right thickness, you won’t strain or be flat!

Cool, huh?

What should belting feel like?

All this talk about vocal cord thickness and belting physiology can make it hard to know exactly what belting should feel like. In my experience, I like to use the metaphor of a gas pedal for how good belting technique should feel. Want to Nail Those High Notes? Every singer wants to expand their range. Expand Your Range Fast will show you how to finally hit high notes in your voice without straining. Expand your range by 5 notes or more! Learn More

Good belting technique should feel like a gas pedal in your car.

You know your singing placement is correct and if you want to add more gas (or volume in this case), you can gently press into the note and you get more power! This is different from poor belting technique, which is like laying a brick on the accelerator and trying to control the car with the brake. In poor belting technique, your vocal cords are already too thick and you have to rely on adjusting your breath pressure to keep singing higher. But if instead you’re singing with a great mix, you can easily add more singing power.

Mixing vs Belting: The Great Debate

As I mentioned earlier, proper belting technique comes from learning to mix the chest voice and head voice registers to achieve one smooth and powerful sound. However, there are may teachers that just teach singers to pull up their chest voice as high as they can. This difference in belting vs singing is very difficult to correct if it’s done for too long. Often, I’ll find that my students that have just been taught to belt don’t trust their mixed voice even though it sounds better than their belt.

How Can I Improve My Belting?

Here’s the bottom line:

Regardless of whether you see yourself belting high notes or just belting out a song, belting vocal exercises are the best way of finding the correct mix of chest and head voice on all the notes in your range. And while we all want to sing songs better, singing warm ups are the best way of learning to belt. Then, once you can hit those crazy high notes, it will be much easier to do it in the songs you love.

Vocal Belting Exercises:

The following belting warm ups are my absolutely favorite ways of getting my students to master belting. The belting exercises are designed to go from more easy to more difficult so that you can get a lot out of them.

Belting Exercise #1: The Bratty “Nay”

Can I tell you something crazy?

If you only do one exercise to help you belt, do the bratty “Nay”. That’s because the bratty “Nay” has almost everything you need to learn to belt.

In this case, the bratty sound will help you hit higher notes.

And the “ay” vowel allows you to find your head voice more easily.

So if you want to learn to belt, start with the “Nay”.

How to Belt with the “Nay” Exercise

Here’s how you do it:

1. Say the word “Nay” (as in “Neighbor”) in a bratty way. The tone should be very buzzy and nasal-sounding. To get the bratty sound right, try to sound like the wicked witch of the west. 2. Next, sing a comfortable note at the bottom your voice (try E3 for guys and C#4 for girls). 3. Finally, sing the bratty “Nay” on an octave repeat scale where you replace each note of the scale with the word “Nay”.

Here’s a cool video where I walk you through it:

How to Sing High Notes without Falsetto--Works for Guys and Girls!

Watch this video on YouTube

You should feel that the high notes in your voice are already much stronger!

Belting Exercise #2: The Bratty “Nae”

Now that you’re starting to sing those higher notes in your voice more strongly, let’s add even more power to your voice. In the last exercise, we used the bratty “Nay” to help you hit higher notes. That bratty sound will definitely help you hit those high notes with more power. But now, we’ll change the exercise to sing with the more open vowel “Ae” (as in “Apple”). That’s because open vowels like “Ah” and “Ae” will help you to find more chest voice. And remember, belting means singing high notes with the power of your chest voice. By the way, I’ve written an article on how vowels affect your singing voice. Make sure to check it out to see why these singing exercises work. But for now, we’ll just change the vowel from “Ay” to “Ae” (as in “Apple”) to help you sing even stronger.

How to Belt with the “Nae” Exercise

Here’s how you do it:

1. Say the word “Nae” (as in “Nasty”) out loud with the bratty sound. If you need help finding the right sound, pretend that you’re a little kid on the playground teasing with a “Nae Nae Nae” sound. 2. Next, sing the bratty “Nae” on a comfortable starting pitch (try F#3 for guys and C#4 for girls).

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3. Finally, the bratty “Nae” on an octave repeat scale where you replace each note of the scale with a bratty “Nae” sound.

Here’s a video where I walk you through it:

How to Hit High Notes: 15 Easy Exercises to Get You There

Watch this video on YouTube

It can be very easy to belt incorrectly on this exercise unless you’re keeping the bratty sound. So as you’re singing through this exercise, try to keep the bratty sound on the high notes. You won’t believe how much power you can add to your voice with this simple exercise!

Belting Exercise #3: The Bratty “Bae”

Here’s the truth:

The bratty “Nae” won’t work for everyone.

That’s because in order to sing the “Nae” you’re adding a small amount of tension to your voice to get more power. But for singers who are already a bit tense, the “Nae” will just make your vocal break worse. So in the next exercise, we’ll simply switch the “N” consonant for a “B” consonant. The “B” consonant adds more back pressure which helps the vocal cords stay relaxed. And most of the time, just this little switch allows the voice to relax enough to hit those high notes better.

How to Belt with the “Bae” Exercise

Here’s how you do it:

1. Say the word “Bae” (like “Bat”) out loud in a bratty way. This time, enunciate the “B” consonant each time you say the word. 2. Next, find a comfortable note at the bottom of your voice (try F#3 for guys and C#4 for girls), and sing the bratty “Bae” on that note. 3. Finally, sing the bratty “Bae” on an octave repeat scale where you replace each note of the scale with the “Bae” sound.

Here’s a video where I walk you through it:

What is Belting and How to Belt Your Singing Voice

Watch this video on YouTube

As you’re learning how to hit high notes, keep your focus on the bratty sound and the “B” consonant. You’ll be amazed that even if you were flipping on the “Nae” exercise, the “Bae” keeps everything strong at the top of your voice.

Belting Exercise #4: The “Gug”

There’s no getting around it:

The “bratty” sound is pretty ugly.

That’s okay for now because we’re doing exercises, not singing on stage.

But as you continue learning to belt correctly, it’s important to work on exercises that are a bit closer to real singing. In the last vocal techniques, we’ve used the bratty sound to help you get more power on your high notes. We’ve also used vowels that already have some bratty sound built into them like “Ay” and “Ae”. So now that you’re singing those notes better, here’s an exercise that uses a more normal singing vowel. In the next exercise, we’ll singing the word “Gug” which has the power you need for belting with a more normal vowel.

How to Belt with the “Gug” Exercise

Here’s how you do it:

1. Say the word “Gug” (like “Gut” but with a “g” at the end) out loud at a strong volume. Enunciate the “G” consonant strongly. 2. Next, find a comfortable note (try E3 for guys and C#4 for girls) and sing the word “Gug” out loud on that note. 3. Finally, sing the “Gug” on an octave repeat scale where you replace each note of the scale with the “Gug” sound.

Here’s a video where I walk you through it:

How to Hit High Notes: 15 Easy Exercises to Get You There

Watch this video on YouTube

As you’re singing through this exercise, make sure you focus on making the “G” sound each time.

You’ll be amazed at how much stronger those high notes become!

Belting Exercise #5: The “Mum”

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again:

There’s a difference between exercise sounds and actual singing.

So now that you’ve learned to belt correctly with the “Nay” and “Nae” let’s do an exercise that’s even closer to real singing. In this exercise, we’ll simply switch out the “G” sound for an “M” consonant.

And while that doesn’t sound like a big deal, it is.

That’s because in the last exercise the “G” sound gave your voice a lot to hold on to even on the high notes. But with only an “M” sound for support, the “Mum” exercise is a bit harder.

And that’s a lot closer to real singing.

How to Belt with the “Mum” Exercise

Here’s how you do it:

1. Say the word “Mum” (as in “Mummy”) out loud at a comfortable volume. 2. Next, find a comfortable note at the bottom of your voice (try C3 for guys and G3 for girls). 3. Finally, sing an octave and a half scale where you replace each note of the scale with the “Mum” sound.

Here’s a video where I walk you through it:

10 Singing Techniques to Improve Your Voice

Watch this video on YouTube

In this vocal warm up, the “M” is all that you really have to hold on to those top notes. So as you’re singing through the exercise, try to keep an emphasis on the “M” consonant. You’ll be amazed at how those high notes sound like your real singing voice and are super strong!

Famous Belting Singers

Now that you’ve learned some great belting warm ups, I wanted to inspire you with some of my favorite famous belting singers and belting songs.

Here are some of my favorite belting singers:

Kelly Clarkson

Carrie Underwood

Bruno Mars

John Legend

Hozier

P!nk

Ed Sheeran

Hayley Williams of Paramour

Dan Reynolds of Imagine Dragons

Lady Gaga

Brendon Urie of Panic! at the Disco

The following playlist has some great belting songs all the way from Basses and Tenors to belting songs for Altos and Sopranos.

You can find the belting playlist here.

Congratulations

By now, you’ve learned what it means to belt.

You also understand the differences between good and bad belting.

And while sometimes good and bad belting can sound pretty similar, you’ve learned some tricks to make sure that you’re singing correctly. That means you can keep building power in those high notes without straining.

But if you’re having a hard time with the exercises, don’t worry.

Singing with power takes time and practice.

So find an exercise that’s working for you and practice it daily.

If you’re looking for more online singing lessons to help you belt, check out my complete singing course Master Your Voice.

ramseyvoice.com - What is Belting and How to Belt Your Singing Voice - Ramsey Voice Studio

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