Elijah Cineas

Each lesson starts with vocal warm-ups and workouts followed by song coaching. For students working on musicianship or theory, that is also worked into our weekly time. My teaching is upbeat and encouraging - but it is also transparent and direct. I want students to get as much progress as they can out of a lesson, and I want them to enjoy it. 

I think it’s a waste of a singer’s time and money to go take voice lessons that teach them how to fake or struggle through a few songs, but don’t give them the tools to be self-sufficient singers. I call this kind of teaching “patch jobs”, and I don’t do it with my weekly students. Instead, I help singers understand why they’re struggling to sing a certain way, and then give them tools to improve their singing inside and outside of their lesson. I always make sure that tools are understandable and accessible so that they can be used during independent practice. 

In my teaching, I work to pass on successful methods of singing that have worked for myself and others, especially principles of the Italian bel canto tradition and the gospel training that I grew up with. While we spend a lot of time on technique, singing is much more than that. To be effective and successful, you have to be compelling about what you’re singing. While this comes naturally to some, others have to work on it. I work with my students on making sure each song that they offer is convincing and expressive by using acting and storytelling exercises to develop subtext. 

Great singers are also great musicians, who understand how to ad lib, improvise, riff, run, read a chord chart, and read sheet music. I do this through comprehensive curricula, riff and run exercises, and artist imitation. For my adult students this work is “challenge by choice”; for students under 18 it's required. 

I challenge my students to practice on a daily basis. I also challenge them to expand their comfort zone by taking on difficult music when they can handle it.