Singing Lesson - Vocal Techniques - (Bel Canto) Beautiful Singing

Bel Canto - What is this Voice Training Method?

Bel canto (Belcanto, bel canto) (Italian, beautiful singing), an Italian musical term, refers to the art and science of a vocal technique which originated in Italy during the late sixteenth century and reached its pinnacle in the early part of the nineteenth century during the Bel Canto opera era. Rossini, Bellini, and Donizetti are the best-known exponents of this style, which flourished from approximately 1810 to 1830. Some would credit the 17th century composer Pietro Cavalli with introducing bel canto, but his smooth and flowing melodic lines form a different style which belongs to a different era. You can still take singing lessons in Bel Canto.

Bel canto singing is characterized by a focus on perfect evenness throughout the voice, skillful legato, a light upper register, tremendous agility and flexibility, and a certain lyric, "sweet" timbre. Operas of the style featured extensive and florid ornamentation, requiring much in the way of fast scales and cadenzas. Emphasizing vocal technique over volume, bel canto style has famously been linked to a vocal exercise said to demonstrate its epitome, where a singer holds a lit candle to her mouth and sings without causing the flame to flicker. Bel Canto singers have a very listenable voice tone.