Bel Canto - What?

If you have had anything to do with opera, you may have heard of Bel Canto singing. If you're not into opera, then you are probably scratching your head. But the techniques of Bel Canto can be applied no matter what style of music you sing.

But first of all, what is Bel Canto? Bel Canto is an Italian phrase - like many terms to do with opera and singing technique - which translates literally as "beautiful singing". Basically, Bel Canto singing is a method or a school of thought that aimed to have singers singing beautifully in a style that was easy to listen to - none of your wobbly, screech glass-shattering sopranos here, or tenors that sounded like demented sheep.

Bel Canto is an advanced singing technique and should only be tackled once you have mastered basic singing lessons such as breathing and the like. The technique was used by many of the operatic greats of the early 20th Century such as Beverley Sills and the great Maria Callas, and also by earlier operatic greats from the days when opera was the most popular singing style, such as Nellie Melba (the singer who had two culinary classics named after her, but that's another story or two!).

Bel Canto singing was originally developed to give audiences something easier to listen to. Bel Canto was a reaction to the growing popularity of the aggressive and almost violent singing style made popular by Wagner's operas (these are the operas that have the big Viking maidens with the horned helmets - you know the sort of thing). Bel Canto was Italian and was almost a statement of nationalism during these days where Italians and Germans were the great rivals for producing the best operas and the best singers.

Bel Canto singing had a number of almost trademark features. The most difficult and notable of these was total mastery of breathing, which is why it is such an advanced singing technique. Bel Canto singing style also features a "legato" style (that means smooth and flowing); the ability to make the higher notes in the register light rather than shrill and squeaky; the ability to do fast runs, trills and ornate passages; and clear enunciation of the lyrics. Bel Canto made a strict point of avoiding the wobbly tones that many people dislike about opera - thank goodness for that!

One thing that Bel Canto has given to the entire singing world rather than just the world of opera and light opera is the idea of the different "voices". The idea is that each singer has three voices, depending on which part of the body is used for resonance. The lowest register is the chest voice, while the highest is the head voice (the head voice is the equivalent of the falsetto or the counter-tenor in men). In between comes the "passaggio" voice, which doesn't really have an English-language equivalent. The aim of Bel Canto singing - all advanced singing lessons - was to transition smoothly from the head voice to the chest voice and back again without harsh, awkward breaks. It is especially important for men to master this singing technique, as if they don't move from a chest voice to a head voice smoothly, they sound like they're going through puberty with a breaking voice all over again.

Even if you are only starting taking singing lessons, you can find out the difference between your chest voice and your head voice. Get a piano and find the lowest note you can sing. You should feel as though this low note is coming from your chest and stomach. Now go up the scale (you will need to play a scale that includes the black notes as well as the white notes - get a piano playing friend to help you if you're not sure how to do this). As you go up the scale, you will feel the resonance leaving your chest and move higher up your vocal tract - in about the middle of your range, you won't be sure whether the note is resonating in your head or in your chest (this is probably your "passaggio" voice) and as you go higher, you will feel the notes resonating in your head. You might even hear the difference - if you are a man, you will definitely hear the difference. (Extra hint: the range of notes where you are in the middle will help you find out your natural singing group: soprano, alto, tenor, baritone or bass.) With a bit of help from some singing lessons, you should be able to transition from your chest voice through to the head voice smoothly and easily without any odd "breaks".

If opera's not your thing and you're more interested in learning to sing pop and rock, you may wonder why you need to bother with Bel Canto and all this blather about chest voices and head voices. However, some of the most notable singers in the pop world - those who are known for good singing rather than just a sexy stage presence - use these techniques even if they've never heard of the term Bel Canto. Think of the singers from Abba - if you listen to their voices and tune out the bouncy, familiar tunes, you can hear that their style is quite operatic. Other female pop singers who use similar techniques include Mariah Carey and Celine Dion. And for a male singer, especially one who's interested in singing classic covers, the ability to go up into the head voice is a real must, as these high, dramatic passages can be heard in a lot of 70s and 80s classic tracks - if you listen to the 80s classics "With or Without You" by U2 or "Take on Me" by A-HA and hear the vocal range in these, you'll get the picture.

Extra piece of trivia: the original teachers of Bel Canto singing were castrati: male singers who had been castrated so they could keep their lovely high treble voices. We can definitely assure you that today's advanced singing teachers who are men are definitely not castrati!

Comments? Questions? Email Here

© HowtoAdvice.com

How to Advice .com