Rachael Thoms Music

11/09/2026

A singer comes in for their regular session feeling embarrassed about not getting any practice done. They didn’t get to it this week.

Then I ask what they think practice needs to look like.

Most singers know what to practise. Not always how to fit it into a real week.

Swipe through for what counts as practice, what to do with five minutes, and how to work around the fear of being overheard.

Want a structure that fits your actual week? Come find us in the BPS Voice Community, link in bio.

07/09/2026

Every singing teacher I know has heard this story, and it kills us every time. 💔

A singer comes in for their first lesson, having not sung in front of anyone for years. They confide that a teacher, a choir director, a parent, or a partner once told them they couldn’t sing. It might have happened twenty or thirty years ago, but they believed it, and stopped.

Researchers call this phenomenon a non-singer identity, and it usually stems from one comment, from someone in authority, taken as proof that singing ability is fixed rather than a skill still developing (Hogle, 2021; Knight, 2011).

Singing ability isn’t fixed at birth for most people. The shame you feel isn’t evidence the comment was true. It’s evidence it was believed.

I’ve created a free two minute self check on my website to see how much an old comment might still be shaping your voice today.

https://rachaelthoms.com/voice-resources

Save this to come back to later, or share with a friend who needs it. There’s no sign up, no marketing funnel, and nothing gets shared.�

03/09/2026

A singer books in for a session, concerned about a tired voice, cracking on high notes, and singing feeling more effortful than it should.

Then I ask about their water intake.

Hydration affects your voice more than you’d think, and not always in the way you’d expect.

Swipe through for what’s actually helping, what’s not, and what to do about it.

Curious what your body actually needs? Hydration calculator linked in bio.

General info, not medical advice, full disclaimer on the website.

10/08/2026

Research Review started out as a 2-3 min Instagram breakdown of recently published voice research. Trouble is, it’s hard to squeeze interpretation, nuance, and tangible recommendations into short-form content.

I thought I’d have a go at the deep dive, with my practical takeaways from the research so singers and singing teachers can apply concepts from the research IRL.

Here’s my first attempt on YouTube. I hope you like it (click that like button 🙏😉) and find it useful!

A new study out of Chinese conservatories found that self-efficacy ...

10/08/2026

Research Review: New research published in Frontiers in Psychology this year on vocal performance anxiety lines up with my own PhD research on self-efficacy and improvisation, with a twist. Full breakdown on YouTube (link in bio).

31/07/2026

gets me right in the feels every time I listen to her. What an artist! 😍😍😍

This is one of her achingly beautiful songs… seemingly simple, but sophisticated, delicate, and perfect in every way.

I could tinker with this work of art for hours and never get bored! ❤️❤️❤️

31/07/2026

Why do I look like a chipmunk hoarding nuts for winter while I sing? 🥜🐿️

That’s a tongue trill with puffy cheeks, a semi-occluded vocal tract exercise.

The trapped air behind a small leak at the lips creates back pressure that pushes gently against the folds from above, so they don’t have to slam together as hard to make sound.

The tongue trill makes back pressure rise and fall, further softening how hard the folds collide. It also keeps the tongue busy.

Tongue and laryngeal tension tend to travel together, and it’s common for the tongue to unnecessarily “help” with pitch changes that are really vocal fold work, not tongue work. My theory is a trilling tip has less spare capacity to interfere.

Try it with interval glides, scale patterns, or as a mid-song reset when things feel tight.

It’s not about mastering the cheeks, it’s about finding easier phonation and carrying that ease into your singing.

If your cheeks keep collapsing, that’s usually too much air, not too little, so ease off.

Skip it if your mouth’s dry, you can’t hold the seal, or your tongue won’t trill (that’s wiring, not failure), and use a lip trill or straw instead.

One exercise isn’t a strategy. If you want to know whether this is the right tool for your voice, that’s what a singing teacher is for.

Save this, give it a try, and let me know how it goes.
What are you actually training in your practice?

30/07/2026

Ever wanted to sound like a bee with main character energy? 🐝🐝🐝 Ask and you shall receive.

This one’s for a new follower who messaged me about wrestling with tension and not being able to find “the mask.”

Here’s the exercise I pointed them to: Y-buzz, a tool from Arthur Lessac’s work.

Start on a buzzy “yee” or “yih.” Notice where it tingles, lips, teeth, front of the face.

The Y keeps the tongue high and forward, and the bright vowel makes it obvious the second the sound turns breathy, dull or effortful.

It’s a useful coordination if your chest voice feels weak or heavy, if your sound has gone dark or swallowed from “making space,” if onsets are unstable, or if you’ve been over-breathing for years and need to get more sound from less air.

Opening the buzz into a “yoh” or “yeah” can also help register transitions and projection stay clear without shouting.

One caveat: feeling the buzz up front doesn’t mean your voice actually lives there. If it starts producing tongue root tension, nasal squeeze or a gripped jaw, that’s your cue to back off, not push through.

This isn’t the sound for every song and it’s not the fix for every voice. If you’re working through any of the above, it’s worth a try, ideally with a good teacher watching and listening.

Save this to come back to, give it a go, and let me know how it feels.

What are you actually training in your practice?