Readers of The Singer’s Library column know that countless books are published each year that are devoted to vocal pedagogy, vocal technique, and studio voice instruction. Less frequently encountered are books related to teaching voice in a group setting. However, interest in the topic abounds, as evidenced by the recent release of the fourth edition of The Singing Book (Rowman & Littlefield, 2024).
In the interview below, co-author Cynthia Vaughn identifies how “class voice” differs from voice lessons and discusses how The Singing Book has evolved over its 20-year lifespan.
What first drew you to the format of class voice (teaching voice in a group setting)?
From my earliest days of teaching singing, I observed that students learn best and enjoy more when they have the opportunity to sing and learn with others. So, in addition to offering individual one-on-one lessons, I’ve always tried to add opportunities for informal studio classes, “song shares,” and observed lessons. When I’m invited to do vocal workshops or “master classes” I want them to be interactive, engaging, and fun. The best-planned curriculum allows room for discovery and serendipity. I’ve taught group voice courses for university, high school, church choirs, and Magnolia Music Studio, the multi-teacher studio I founded and directed from 2008 to 2022.
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You call The Singing Book the “antithesis” of the philosophy that class voice is simply a private lesson in a group format. Can you explain what you mean?
In a group singing class, you aren’t just working with one singer at a time. You’ve got to find creative ways to engage and include everyone from the very first class. My late co-author Meribeth Dayme and I agreed fully on this: “Sing first, talk later.” One of the biggest differences is that you have to slow down! It takes time for everyone in the class to try things out for themselves. The larger class can be divided into smaller groups or pairs or trios with the instructor facilitating. Look for the Appendix “Interactive Group Voice Strategies for Teachers” and the “Finding Out For Yourself” suggestions throughout the book.
This new fourth edition, published ten years after the third edition, includes new songs and arrangements, song annotations, a revised chapter on IPA, and more diverse and inclusive song selections. This edition also marks more than twenty years since the publication of the first edition in 2004. What would you say have been the most significant changes or updates over the lifespan of the book?
There are no drastic changes. The structure, format, and philosophy of The Singing Book have remained the same: a brief Part 1 (“The First Steps to Singing Easily”), a very large song anthology for Part II, and detailed resources in Part III, including voice science, anatomy, vocal health, IPA, and how to read music. Each new edition has followed changes in technology and pop culture, with greater awareness of inclusiveness and decolonization. We’ve kept many favorite songs from previous editions but I love the new songs in the fourth edition: new art songs by American and Canadian composers, more songs by women and Black composers, and two delightful Jamaican songs (Chi Chi Bud and Banyan Tree) suggested by my friend and colleague Charles Anthony Moore.
This is the first edition published since the death of your co-author Maribeth Dayme in 2019, whom you describe as “a true pioneer in voice pedagogy.” It’s also the first in which Matthew Hoch has served as editor. Can you describe the contributions of these collaborators?
Without Meribeth (Bunch) Dayme, The Singing Book wouldn’t exist. I knew of Meribeth Bunch as the author of my graduate school pedagogy textbook, Dynamics of the Singing Voice, in the 1980s. I connected with her personally in the late 1990s when I was writing and editing for Classical Singer and I wrote an interview/review for her book Creating Confidence. It’s out of print now but some of the content was later adapted for her 2006 book The Performer’s Voice. For that interview, Meribeth insisted on speaking on the telephone, so we had several conversations from her home in England to my home (then) in Colorado. A few years later, she reached out to me by phone to ask if I would be interested in working together on a new group voice textbook and song anthology! She had been invited by W. W. Norton & Company editor Maribeth Payne to submit a proposal. That began a 20-year collaboration and deep friendship.
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When Meribeth died in October 2019 from ALS, we had already begun preliminary discussions with our publisher for a fourth edition of The Singing Book. Her unexpected death was followed by the pandemic and the project stalled. The 2014 third edition was still selling well, but in 2022, I was approached by a new publisher, Rowman & Littlefield. It was the right time, and with new energy and as a loving tribute to my long-time collaborator, the fourth edition was begun. Knowing what a big project this would be, I asked Rowman & Littlefield Acquisitions Editor Michael Tan if we could bring Matthew Hoch on as editor for this new book. Matthew and I had recently compiled and texted Meribeth Dayme’s final posthumous book The Essentials of CoreSinging: A Joyful Approach to Singing and Voice Pedagogy (Rowman & Littlefield, 2022). I was thrilled to welcome Matthew Hoch to The Singing Book. He is dedicated, detailed, and driven, collaborative and considerate. Maybe writing is a bit like singing—better together.
