About
About The Sweetland Belt Technique
Sweetland Belt is a complete singing technique that enables singers to realize the full stylistic potential of their voice, from the most extreme Rock Belt, to Pop, Broadway, and Country. But it is not just Belting. Sweetland singers develop a strong Legit that is appropriate for Golden Age Musical Theatre, Operetta, and Opera. It is the one technique that truly encompasses all styles of singing. Lee Sweetland developed the technique in the 1960s in Los Angeles, and had success with his students in Opera, Pop, Rock, and Broadway. His son Steve taught Opera singers in Germany and Denmark, Broadway singers in New York City, and Pop singers in Los Angeles. Sweetland singing is stylistically versatile, builds strength throughout the range of the voice, and is exceptionally healthy for the voice. With Steve’s blessing, I am attempting to make this technique known around the world.
Donny Osmond, student of Lee Sweetland, sings “Close Every Door” from Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. When he gets loud near the end of the song, watch how he uses his teeth and lips to heighten pronunciation and resonance.
Barbara McAlister attributes Lee and Sally Sweetland with putting her voice back together after an illness, and in so doing building her voice to its full strength. She won the prestigious Loren Zachary competition in Los Angeles while studying with the Sweetlands, and went on to have a multi-decade career singing dramatic mezzo soprano roles throughout the northern hemisphere.
Lee Sweetland Singing “It’s a Grand Night for Singing” live on the radio in 1945.
Jenn Gambatese has performed leading roles on Broadway, National and International tours, and in many regional theatres. She studied singing exclusively with Steve Sweetland. Here you can hear how she deftly switches between a pop legit tone and Belting, with many variations in between.
Lauren Newell studied first with Tony Richards, then Steve Sweetland. While she sings all genres, here is an example of Country singing that features Belting in her original song “No Hope In Hope, Missouri.”
Seth MacFarlane studied with Lee Sweetland, and continued with Steve after Lee’s death. Frank Sinatra used to hang out in Lee’s living room, where they would talk about singing and storytelling. Lee gave Seth a direct line to the fruit of those conversations, as you can hear in this stylistically pure rendition of “The Things We Did Last Summer.”
About Dr. Patrick Newell
Dr. Patrick Newell is an esteemed vocal instructor, music director, stage director, choral conductor, and performer with a resume including over eighty Musicals and Operas and more than 25 years of teaching experience. Currently, he is the Director of Choral Activities and Instructor of Singing at Western Nebraska Community College as well as the Artistic Director for Theatre West Nebraska. With a diverse teaching portfolio in the areas of Opera, Musical Theatre, and Art Song, he has guided his students into successful careers as performers for Disney, Off-Broadway, National Tours, military bands, cruise lines, regional theatres, amusement parks, and on popular web series. Newell is a nationally and internationally recognized teacher of the Sweetland Belt Technique and has given presentations and workshops for several music and theatre conferences and festivals in America and Europe. As his newest project, Dr. Newell is opening the bi-yearly Sweetland Belt Teaching Institute in Italy to teach singing teachers the pedagogy of the Sweetland Belt Technique as well as to teach Belting to singers.
Dr. Newell has held distinguished academic positions at The University of Wyoming, where he received the Seibold Excellence in Teaching award and founded a BFA in Musical Theatre, and as the Director of Opera at Eastern Kentucky University. He has also served as both stage
director and music director with numerous theatres across the United States from Washington to Ohio, Los Angeles to St. Louis, and many places in between. Although he enjoys directing and performing, Dr. Newell considers himself primarily a Teacher of Singing.
Newell began his studies in vocal performance at Indiana University-Purdue University at Fort Wayne where he was a student of Dr. Joseph Meyers. He received his Bachelor of Music with Distinction and immediately began his Master of Music in the esteemed music program at Indiana University, studying with Dale Moore. Completing the trifecta, Newell received his Doctor of Music from Indiana University in Vocal Performance and Song Literature under the instruction of Dr. James McDonald.
Seven years after Newell received his Doctor of Music degree, friend and colleague Tony Richards introduced Newell to the Sweetland Belt Technique, a comprehensive singing pedagogy developed by Richard’s teacher, Lee Sweetland. Newell began studying the technique with Richards and then with Sweetland’s son, Steve, who had taken up his father’s mantel. Newell continued to study Sweetland Belt with Steve in Los Angeles for the next decade and in doing so became an established teacher of the technique with Steve Sweetland’s blessing.
Dr. Newell’s recent activity is focused on writing the first scholarly researched vocal pedagogy textbook on Belting, working title The Art of Transformational Singing. Based on the teachings of Lee Sweetland, the book redefines how we think of Belting and its applications in all genres
of singing, from Opera to Musical Theatre to Pop/Rock and Jazz.