Award Date

12-15-2025

Degree Type

Doctoral Project

Degree Name

Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA)

Department

Music

First Committee Member

Alfonse Anderson

Second Committee Member

Kimberly James

Third Committee Member

Linda Lister

Fourth Committee Member

Stephanie Council

Fifth Committee Member

Joe Bynum

Number of Pages

92

Abstract

Since its emergence in the early 20th century, the female belt voice has become central to musical theatre, yet it still receives less systematic attention than classical singing in both scholarship and collegiate pedagogy. This document frames the contemporary female belt, especially the high or mixed belt, in dialogue with the Western operatic tenor to demystify belt production for teachers trained in classical vocal pedagogy. Drawing on historical context, voice science, and applied pedagogy, the study compares defining characteristics, vocal challenges, registration, and resonance strategies across the two traditions. Both voices extend chest-dominant qualities above the primary register transition and rely on anticipatory, acoustically driven adjustments to stabilize vocal fold oscillation and maintain stylistic integrity. Key differences include the tenor’s expectation of timbral unity via cover, the belter’s speech-driven intelligibility and twang-influenced brightness, and the role of amplification in contemporary theatre. The analysis offers practical parallels that can guide healthy high-range coordination in the female musical theatre mixed belt.

Controlled Subject

Musical theater; Singing; Vocal scores

Disciplines

Arts and Humanities | Music | Scandinavian Studies

File Format

PDF

File Size

1006 KB

Degree Grantor

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Language

English

Rights

IN COPYRIGHT. For more information about this rights statement, please visit http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

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