Vocal Studies: background and philosophy

For the past twenty-seven years I have been teaching students to sing. The majority of these twenty-seven years has been at the academic level, teaching voice to music majors and non-music majors as well as teaching vocal diction, vocal pedagogy and opera workshop at Henderson State University and Cornell College as a full-time faculty member. I have taught voice for Morgan State University and The University of Maryland, Baltimore County as a part-time faculty member, and at The Ohio University and The University of Georgia as a graduate teaching assistant. I have also taught voice and voice class for The Peabody Preparatory. Seven years ago I decided to expand my teaching horizons by teaching voice privately in my own studio.

I am very appreciative of all my teaching experiences for they have given me the opportunity to work with a wide variety of voices, vocal problems, ages, and musical styles. I am very comfortable working with both male and female voices regardless of vocal range and vocal category. I am equally adept at teaching the beginning voice student to the most advanced. As far as age is concerned, I have worked with students as young as age ten to students in their sixties. Presently, the majority of my students are high-school age to students in their forties.

Cinda raising her hand in encouragement
Dr. Cinda Thomas
I have been trained as a classical singer—I am a soprano, and have sung in numerous recitals, concerts, and with several opera companies. Two of my three music degrees are in vocal performance. Up until ten years ago my singing performances were strictly classical. However, during my academic teaching I became interested in the musical theatre voice and began to train students interested in musical theatre. I additionally took on the role as musical director for several musicals during my academic tenure and began to perform musical theatre songs in concerts. Since then I have become interested in cabaret singing and as a private studio voice teacher I am very much interested in the musical style which best fits my students' voices. I very much enjoy the flexibility of teaching a variety of musical styles, but my classical training is the backbone of my teaching skills and is the model for all voice lessons regardless of the style of music sung.

Vocal exercises and repertoire are chosen, for each student, with the sole purpose of aiding students in the development of their singing voice, or the resonance of their singing sound. Many factors can interfere with how the voice resonates: posture, breath, how a student shapes vowels and/or articulates consonants (the use of the jaw and tongue), just to name a few. Vocal exercises are also chosen to help students develop and enhance basic singing skills such as flexibility, legato, coordination, consistency, and energized singing. No facet of vocal training is overlooked. Students are also given the opportunity to develop performance skills through the annual performance of a Student Performance Showcase.

"Singing should look and sound easy." This is my philosophy on singing, but what I have learned through my teaching experiences is that very few singers stand, breathe, sing, or perform with ease. Many singers put too much effort into their singing, sometimes without realizing it, and the result is that singing looks and sounds like it is hard work. My teaching goal is to give students the tools to help themselves sing with more ease, freedom and flexibility regardless of musical style, range or language. I am also interested in helping students discover and develop their true singing potential.

I believe a singing teacher must possess the ability to recognize vocal problems, not only in the sound of the voice, but with the singer's whole instrument. Once a problem is recognized the teacher must be able to offer a solution or solutions. I am extremely wise in the recognition of vocal problems and can very easily offer suggestions to improve whatever vocal problem exists.

Students who study voice with me receive an extra bonus as I am also a certified Alexander Technique teacher. Alexander Technique is a process of unlocking habitual patterns of tension in the body. I am trained to recognize and to guide students out of their habits of tension, which might be preventing them from standing, breathing, singing, or performing with ease or from developing their full vocal potential. Voice lessons may include Alexander Technique as another tool which students can use to accomplish their singing and performance goals. Many students find the inclusion of Alexander Technique in their vocal study to be most advantageous.

I have had much experience preparing students for auditions, performances, and competitions. Most recently one of my students, a soprano, was accepted into the graduate vocal programs at The Peabody Conservatory, The Boston Conservatory, and the Longy Institute of Music. As a twenty-year member of The National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS), I regularly enter students in the annual NATS Student Auditions and my students typically place or receive honorable mention. My students have performed in such organization as:

"Singing should look and sound easy."

If you would like to improve any aspect of your singing or performance skills, if you are having vocal trouble, if you are a beginning student, or if you would like to sing or perform with more ease please contact me at cindathomas@comcast.net.



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