I love belting. Just look at the songs I prefer to record and that I use for most auditions.
I think it’s important to start with saying: if you are doing any singing (but especially belting) make sure you are using proper technique. You can ruin your voice by belting with incorrect technique (aka screaming😣).
Find some lessons, do some research, take care of your instrument!
Okay, moving on!
I’ve already written a very detailed post on choosing a standout audition song. It walks you through seven steps to figuring out if the song is right for you and the show you’re auditioning for!
You need to be aware of the context of your song as well as the mood of the entire show (if you audition with “Maybe This Time,” you need to be aware of why Sally is heartbrokenly hopeful).
The post above is great for helping you contextualize a song.
But you’re here for belting song ideas!
If you’d like to, check out my audition song idea quiz or just check out this list of songs for belters below!
Audition Song Idea List for Belters
Uptempo for Belting:
- “They Just Keep Moving the Line”: SMASH
- “Red White and True”: Big Fish (minus the dance music)
- “Holding Out for a Hero”: Footloose
- “I Can Cook Too”: On the Town
- “Nothing Short of Wonderful”: Dogfight
- “Pulled”: The Addams Family*
- “The Witch”: Big Fish
- “I Get a Kick Out of You”: Anything Goes
- “Blow Gabriel, Blow”: Anything Goes
- “Almost There”: The Princess and the Frog
- “Happily Ever After”: Once Upon a Mattress
- “All for You”: Seussical
- “All I’ve Ever Known”: Hadestown
- “Morning Person”: Shrek the Musical
- “Meadowlark”: The Baker’s Wife
- “Let’s Hear it for the Boy”: Footloose
- “I Know It’s Today”: Shrek the Musical
- “Fly Fly Away”: Catch Me If You Can
- “Only For You”: Love Never Dies**
- “Dogfight”: Dogfight**
- “Dead Girl Walking”: Heathers **
- “Shy”: Once Upon a Mattress
- “I Do I Do in the Sky”: The Drowsy Chaperone
- “Show Off”: The Drowsy Chaperone
- “Amayzing Mayzie”: Seussical
- “No Good Deed”: Wicked*
- “The Wizard and I”: Wicked*
- “Cabaret”: Cabaret
- “Roxie: Chicago
- “The Ballad of Sara Berry”: 35MM
*Possibly overdone. If it’s the perfect song and you can kill it, I say go for it (at some point, people don’t do overdone songs and then they’re no longer overdone . . . plus who doesn’t love hearing someone rock “The Wizard and I”??)
** Content Advisory (You really need to look up the context for this song. It could be really inappropriate for your audition!)
Ballads for Belting:
- “There Are Worse Things I Could Do”: Grease
- “She Used to Be Mine”: Waitress
- “Pretty Funny”: Dogfight
- “Something Different”: The Band’s Visit
- “Mama Who Bore Me”: Spring Awakening
- “Dyin’ Ain’t So Bad”: Bonnie and Clyde
- “How ‘bout a Dance?”: Bonnie and Clyde
- “The Man that Got Away”: A Star is Born
- “Someone Like You”: Jekyll and Hyde
- “Suddenly Seymour”: Little Shop of Horrors*
- “You Love Who You Love”: Bonnie and Clyde
- “As We Stumble Along”: The Drowsy Chaperone
- “Hold On”: The Secret Garden*
- “Maybe this Time”: Cabaret**
- “I Miss the Mountains”: Next to Normal**
- “Superboy and the Invisible Girl”: Next to Normal
- “Always Starting Over”: If/Then
That’s all for now! Once I hear more belty Broadway songs with great cuts, I’ll share them here.
Break a leg!
Grace
Grace
Howdy, I’m Grace! I'm a Catholic music educator and voice teacher in Fort Worth, TX. Every week I share a podcast teaching Catholic kids sacred music--want to learn more? Try Sing With Grace for free today!