Description:
Part 3: belting. We’re using a variety of belt-friendly syllables for the different ranges and intensities we might want to use.
Exercise: Mix range - ONE/WHY 1358531 C
Start off with a mix-friendly syllable like ONE or WHY. If you find yourself flipping into your head voice, make sure you’re dropping your jaw and thinking about “speaking into” the full pattern. If you’re using WHY, it can also be helpful to add a little bit of whine or bratty sound. This sound won’t be as heavy as our next exercise, but it’ll set us up to sing in our belt range without shouting and getting easily fatigued.
Exercise: Chest-dominant mix belt - Nuh, Ney, Uh 5-1-5 B
Now, we’ll press into the sound a little more with a wider vowel and a sustain, on. Please feel free to squat into those high notes!
Exercise: Twangy/head-dominant mix belt - Mee 8888—531 A
We’ll extend a bit higher now, into what some might call a twangy or head-dominant belt. This kind of sound is useful when the pitches are way too high for chest voice, but we still want a strong, belty sound. Please don’t shy away from the “edginess” of the sound. You can always dial back that intensity if it’s too much!
Lessons:
- 1: Welcome!
-
2:
Warmup
-
3:
Vibrato & Smooth Tone
-
4:
Pentatonic Riffs (improv focus)
-
5:
Belting
-
6:
Conclusion
Instructor: Abram Poliakoff
Abram Poliakoff is a singer, guitarist, pianist, teacher, conductor, and composer. He received a Bachelors of Music in Vocal Arts from USC’s Thornton School of Music and has been teaching music for 8 years. He is currently both the Associate Artistic Director and a tenor in the L.A. Choral Lab, which recently released its first studio album Sonic Visions in the fall of 2019. Abram teaches and performs a wide range of genres including Classical, Jazz, Folk and Popular music in the Los Angeles area. He has also sung with the San Francisco Opera and Pocket Opera in the Bay Area. His teaching mission is to help his students utilize vocal technique to find their authentic and healthy voice while maximizing genre flexibility and a naturalness of expression.