Everyone has had experience working out and feeling their muscles work hard, and knowing that that's safe. And at other times we've actually felt a muscle tear or pull, and knew that that was not safe. The same way students know what is right or wrong when they work out, they need to know that they can trust themselves when they're belting as well.
Belters fear they'll get injured unknowingly, that they won't be able to tell if something is going wrong. Instead of preventing any injury, their fear usually prevents them from finding the right placement. They need to know that they are aware enough of their own body to tell which is which.
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In my classical singing training, I picked up a lot of misinformation and fear about belting and other contemp stuff. As a crossover singer (classical, jazz, broadway, gospel rock, country), I've come to learn what utter BS was pouring out of classical training studios when it comes to contemp singiner. Dang, the voice is soooo resilient. Yes, support, yes, free from tension, but it's just muscles and flesh and cartilage. It can be trained to belt, scream (metal), straight-tone, twang, fill an opera house...You hit the nail on the head...it's fear.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you on the fear coming from classical voice studios. I do think that younger generations are more open to crossing over, and many young opera singers also sing music theatre, so hopefully we'll see a change of mentality when those young people become teachers. And if crossing over was so bad, why would teachers from other styles of singing not forbid their students to sing classically?
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