Thomas Edward Appell BS, RCE is a vocal coach, author, record producer and songwriter. Appell first gained recognition as the author of the book Can You Sing a HIGH C Without Straining?
Childhood and early beginnings
An only child, Appell was adopted at birth by Goldie and Edward Appell. Edward Appell was a lubrication mechanic and tow truck operator. Goldie Appell was a school teacher. Goldie Appell was unable to have children of her own. She and her husband Edward decided to adopt. A local pastor knew of a young unmarried woman named Mary Knokes who was pregnant and would be unable to keep her child. The child's father denied paternity and had urged Knokes to get an abortion which she refused. Knokes gave birth to the child who was named Thomas Edward Knokes. At the age of one his name was changed to Thomas Edward Appell. The identity of Appell's biological father is not known. Appell and his parents were members of South Hills Baptist Church in West Covina, CA where they attended services twice on Sunday and Wednesday evenings throughout most of his childhood. He attended South Hills Acadamy Christian School 1st through 8th grades and graduated from Covina High School.
At age 10 Appell's mother enrolled him in trumpet lessons. At age 11 Appell auditioned for and was accepted into a select vocal group called The Choralaires at South Hills Acadamy where he sang soprano. He appeared on the television show Church In the Home and in 1967 recorded a record album with The Choralaires released on Cornerstone Records. At age 13 Appell started taking guitar lessons and formed his first band, Love's Perfection, with local neighborhood friends. His first paid gig was at a Taco Bell where the band was given free food in exchange for performing in front of the restaurant.
He began teaching guitar at age 18 while attending California State Polytechnich University, Pomona, CA where he majored in Civil Engineering with a minor in music. In 1973 he set a school record for Cal Poly Pomona running the quarter mile leg of the distance medley relay at the Mount San Antonio College Relays in Walnut, California. The record held until 1981 and as of 2008 stands in the top ten best of all time for Cal Poly Pomona Track and Field.
At age 22 he formed another band called US101, named after the highway that goes up the California coast. The band performed renditions of popular surf music by groups like the Beach Boys and Jan & Dean. A 15 year old drummer named Tom Bass aka Tommy Lee auditioned for the group and was selected to be the drummer. Within a few months of Lee joining the group, US101 evolved into a popular local rock band. Appell played approximately one hundred gigs with Lee from 1976 to 1978 including The Starwood and Gazzarri's night clubs in Hollywood, CA. He credits his time spent with Lee as an important assett in his ability to record and produce good-sounding drums. Appell gave Lee his first bible (Living Bible/paraphrased) and towards the end of the band's history announced at a practice that he could no longer perform songs with lyrics that conflicted with biblical principles. This eliminated about half of the band's set of songs. US101 disbanded in 1978. Lee left the group to later join the band Motley Crue. Appell began voice training with Martin Greene, a choral instructor at Citrus College in Glendora, CA. in an effort to improve his voice to front his next band as a singer. Former US101 lead singer Ron Hindt went on to become a pastor at Calvery Chapel in Houston, Texas.
In 1979 he graduated from California State Polytechnich University, Pomona, CA with a Bachelor of Science degree in civil engineering. In 1979 he passed the Engineer In Training (EIT) exam on his first attempt. In 1982 he successfully passed the California Registered Engineer's exam on his first attempt. Appell says, "My education at Cal Poly Pomona and engineering background gave me the ability to undestand how physical things work. They taught me how to think. I just applied what I learned to singing."
1982: Vocal coaching career begins
Appell states in the video accompanying his DVD Johnnie Truth and the Stolen Statue that In 1981 while working at a civil engineering firm in Rosemead, CA the president of the company asked him to lie about a work-related matter. Appell refused and was fired in January of 1982. He credits this incident for leading him to read a passage in the bible promising a blessing for those who obey God's commandments. He prayed and asked God to give him wisdom for training singers. 50 days later he gave his first voice lesson. During those 50 days, while researching the physiology of the vocal cords, Appell came up with a new theory stating that according to the principles of physics, the ability to sing high notes was a muscular action anyone could master with a healthy voice. In 1993 at the Western Medical Center in Santa Ana, California, Appell video-taped the action of the vocal cords with a camera suspended inside a student's throat while the student sang vocal exercises. Based on this experiment and quantitative results obtained from singers he trained between 1982 and 1992, in 1993 Appell wrote and published his first book, Can You Sing a HIGH C Without Straining? Can You Sing a HIGH C Without Straining? is believed to be the earliest copyrighted book to offer a detailed explanation of how high notes are produced by singers.
Appell was the first vocal coach to publish a book containing exercises for developing vibrato. He also was the first vocal coach to use the International Phonetic alphabet for stylistic training in popular styles of music. He has created definitions for the terms head voice, chest voice, falsetto, and full voice that apply to all styles of music. He also is the first vocal coach to quantify the terms for vocal classification by the length and mass of the vocal cords, rather than the range (soprano, mezzo-soprano, alto, contralto, tenor, baritone, and bass). Singers were previously classified by how high they can sing. Appell proved that with training all singers can sing high notes and showed that it was the low notes that dictate vocal classification.
1992: Songwriting and producing career begins
In 1992 Appell began writing music for up-and-coming singers needing original material. His first paid songwriting job was to write a gothic style rock song for singer/songwriter Bob Croissant. Appell wrote 2 songs for Croissant and was then hired to write and produce the music for a female new age/ jazz singer. By 2000 he was writing and producing music for singers he trained in rock, pop/rock, jazz, country, and classical genres. He has copyrights to more than 50 songs.
2003: New books
In April of 2003 Appell authored and published his second book, Johnnie Truth and the Stolen Statue. Johnnie Truth is an illustrated book based on Appell's life story and explains how telling the truth led to him establishing a career as a vocal coach.
In November of 2003 Appell authored and published the book, Never Get Another Cold in DVD format. This book shows singers how to prevent colds and the flu. Appell got information for the book by interviewing people who never or rarely get sick. Appell published the hardcover edition of Never Get Another Cold in 2004. In 2005 California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger made the following statement about Appell's book Never Get Another Cold:
In 2007 Appell published the fourth edition of Can You Sing a HIGH C Without Straining? which contains an updated version of the original book, 3 audio CDs with vocal exercises and examples, a vocal exercise DVD, Never Get Another Cold, and Johnnie Truth and the Stolen Statue as a packaged set.
Appell taught junior high sunday school at Christian Mission Church in Mission Viejo, CA for three years. He also served as a small group leader at Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, CA for three years. He is an avid surfer, chess and checkers player. He lives with his wife Dianna in Trabuco Canyon, CA.
