It's either because people are dumb, or because the definition of belting has some technicality that means it only applies to women. I firmly believe it's the former, but I've no doubt someone'll be along in a minute to tell us why we're wrong and why it's DEFINITELY the latter.
I think this misconception comes from the idea that "traditionally" men have always used their chest voice and "traditionally" women have used a head voice.
"If this is going to be a Christian nation that doesn't help the poor, either we have to pretend that Jesus was just as selfish as we are, or we've got to acknowledge that He commanded us to love the poor and serve the needy without condition and then admit that we just don't want to do it." -Stephen Colbert
okay. men CAN belt, but the original post is not entirely accurate.. to say that "if a baritone can get an A out with his chest voice.. how is that not belting" is not accurate.. if you hear an operatic male singing a higher note with proper support and all that it is often a head voice/chest voice blend although it may not sound like that.. which is a healthy singing technique... projecting a note and belting it aren't the same thing.. although it's difficult to explain.. To me with belting generally it seems like it's being made more in the throat, than when it's not belting.. and it's more of a slam/supported yell when it's a belt..
There are plenty of male belters though.. watch Adam Lambert singing "Is Anybody Listening" that would be considered belting... where as if you listen to Brian Stokes Mitchell singing Were Thine That Special Face.. the last note, although a very big note.. would not be considered belting.
Because the term as MUSICAL THEATRE SLANG originated in musical halls in the 19th century and was used to describe WOMEN who were singing in chest - (i.e. non lyrical soprano or operetta voice).
In other words it originated as a style definition - not a technique.
I would consider the term belting to definitely be feminine and the men most people would even think of as belters are people like Sam Harris and Adam Lambert who seem to be more influenced by the great female divas than other male singers.
As a man who sings I personally would never want somebody to call me a belter - no matter how loud or high I could go up the scales.
Then is there a similar phrase, slang-wise, for a man singing in that fashion?
A guy who can just power it out above the break without a touch of proper classical, operatic technique and just let loose with one "BAP BAP BAP" high Eb after another?
Doesn't this fall under the same lines as men sing in falsetto, but women do not?
If we're not having fun, then why are we doing it?
These are DISCUSSION boards, not mutual admiration boards. Discussion only occurs when we are willing to hear what others are thinking, regardless of whether it is alignment to our own thoughts.
In my opinion, no, not quite. The common, somewhat mistaken definition of belting being a sound that is created by singing with a substantial amount of chest voice in one's range lends itself much more to the female voice then to the male voice.
In the female voice, a woman creates a belt like sound by bringing up a substantial amount of TA activity(TA=Thyroidarytenoid/vocalis muscle, an intrinsic laryngeal muscle that is dominant in chest voice) past her primo passagio, a shift that normally occurs somewhere between an E-Flat 4 and a G4, depending on the voice type. In classical singing as well as in non belted singing, a woman would normally switch into a CT dominant( CT=Cricothyroid Muscle, an intrinsic laryngeal muscle that is dominant in head voice) mix at that point, retaining some amount of chest voice, but gradually increasing more and more head voice as the scale progresses through her extensive middle register, eventually passing through the upper middle range and passing through the second passaggio into full head voice, the latter shift occurring between an E-flat 5 and an A-Flat 5, depending on the voice type. In belted singing, a woman increases her chest voice above her first passaggio, violating the Melba Point rule of never allowing chest beyond an E-Flat 4. That said, a woman must be able to retain some CT activity while belting, because pushing an extreme amount of chest voice as far as it can go will prove injurious to the vocal instrument . Somewhere around a C-Sharp 5 to E-Flat 5, a woman must transition into a very strong CT dominant belt sound that still maintains TA activity, but not allowing that to be dominant and thus preventing the possibility of injury. This sound can be carried up as far as the female is capable of doing(Indeed, some women can belt the soprano High C!!).
The male voice, on the other hand, is a different animal: Men have a much smaller transition area in regards to registration then a woman does due to the fact that men speak largely in a TA dominant sound, while a woman's speech inflection range includes much more CT dominance along with TA dominance then the male. A man can indeed bring up chest voice into his upper middle range (Referred to as the Zona Di Passaggio) and into the upper range in order to produce a belt like sound, but must allow it to become a strong balance between both CT activity and TA activity. It is controversial in the vocal pedagogy world, but notes roughly above an E-Flat 4, E4, F4, F-Sharp 4, or G4(All second passagio points in the male voice , depending on the individual singer) are sung in a powerful CT dominant sound in operatic singing, even though one may feel/hear notes above their second passagio as chest voice when executing these notes correctly. In the musical theatre/contemporary singing world, this sound produced by the male vocalist is normally more CT dominant with a different vocal tract shape(i.e resonance) then it would be for classical singing, although there are many different variations on how one's registration/resonance models are in non classical styles.
So, in a nutshell, registration in female voices aligns more closely with the somewhat misnomer definition of belting then registration in male voices do, mostly because of how different registration in belting is for women then the type of registration that is used in classical singing/non belted singing. Men must ALWAYS allow, (even though there are variations depending on the style), some release of TA activity when transitioning into the head register. Women do not.
Soaring29 said: "In my opinion, no, not quite. The common, somewhat mistaken definition of belting being a sound that is created by singing with a substantial amount of chest voice in one's range lends itself much more to the female voice then to the male voice.
In the female voice, a woman creates a belt like sound by bringing up a substantial amount of TA activity(TA=Thyroidarytenoid/vocalis muscle, an intrinsic laryngeal muscle that is dominant in chest voice) past her primo passagio, a shift that normally occurs somewhere between an E-Flat 4 and a G4, depending on the voice type. In classical singing as well as in non belted singing, a woman would normally switch into a CT dominant( CT=Cricothyroid Muscle, an intrinsic laryngeal muscle that is dominant in head voice) mix at that point, retaining some amount of chest voice, but gradually increasing more and more head voice as the scale progresses through her extensive middle register, eventually passing through the upper middle range and passing through the second passaggio into full head voice, the latter shift occurring between an E-flat 5 and an A-Flat 5, depending on the voice type. In belted singing, a woman increases her chest voice above her first passaggio, violating the Melba Point rule of never allowing chest beyond an E-Flat 4. That said, a woman must be able to retain some CT activity while belting, because pushing an extreme amount of chest voice as far as it can go will prove injurious to the vocal instrument . Somewhere around a C-Sharp 5 to E-Flat 5, a woman must transition into a very strong CT dominant belt sound that still maintains TA activity, but not allowing that to be dominant and thus preventing the possibility of injury. This sound can be carried up as far as the female is capable of doing(Indeed, some women can belt the soprano High C!!).
The male voice, on the other hand, is a different animal: Men have a much smaller transition area in regards to registration then a woman does due to the fact that men speak largely in a TA dominant sound, while a woman's speech inflection range includes much more CT dominance along with TA dominance then the male. A man can indeed bring up chest voice into his upper middle range (Referred to as the Zona Di Passaggio) and into the upper range in order to produce a belt like sound, but must allow it to become a strong balance between both CT activity and TA activity. It is controversial in the vocal pedagogy world, but notes roughly above an E-Flat 4, E4, F4, F-Sharp 4, or G4(All second passagio points in the male voice , depending on the individual singer) are sung in a powerful CT dominant sound in operatic singing, even though one may feel/hear notes above their second passagio as chest voice when executing these notes correctly. In the musical theatre/contemporary singing world, this sound produced by the male vocalist is normally more CT dominant with a different vocal tract shape(i.e resonance) then it would be for classical singing, although there are many different variations on how one's registration/resonance models are in non classical styles.
So, in a nutshell, registration in female voices aligns more closely with the somewhat misnomer definition of belting then registration in male voices do, mostly because of how different registration in belting is for women then the type of registration that is used in classical singing/non belted singing. Men must ALWAYS allow, (even though there are variations depending on the style), some release of TA activity when transitioning into the head register. Women do not.
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HERE YOU ARE, LADIES AND GENTS!! Soaring, will you marry me?????
And dramamama, your "question" is basically the super short version of the above, so yes. It's all about vocal pedagogy and how men's and women's voices function, and obviously they function differently.
I think it's fun! Just because it's old doesn't mean it should be forgotten!
Based on the original question by the OP and the common definition of belting, it is my opinion that men do not belt. You can refer back to my first post to see why I think so. That said, people often learn singing in ways that don't necessarily correlate perfectly with the actual anatomy of the voice and feel things physiologically that aren't necessarily what is happening anatomically, but by a certain perspective, are still correct in their methods of learning/feeling what they do in singing because these beliefs work for them and help them create the ideal sound for their instrument, much more so then if somebody tried to apply the anatomical facts literally. So, you aren't necessarily wrong at all, but just correct from a different perspective.