The Studio of Sharon Angle's Profile

I teach private lessons from my home studio in Bothell, WA just 1/2 mile off of HWY 405 and exit 22.

SCHOOL YEAR SCHEDULE:
1:00 pm to 10:00 pm Monday - Thursday
1:00 pm to 6:00 pm Saturday

I TEACH:
Beginning to Professional Level Singers, Actors, Speakers
Beginning to Intermediate Piano
Beginning Guitar

MUSIC STYLES:
Opera, Classical Art Song (lieder, chanson, etc.), Oratorio, Broadway, Gospel, Jazz, Pop, Rock, Heavy Metal, & Children's Music Skills

MY STUDIO FOCUS:

I teach private lessons, workshops, classes, master classes, and am a consultant for chorales and ensembles. I have been a guest director for college musical theatre but no longer travel due to my student load. I have a professional accompanist who accompanies my studio and is willing to work with you here in the studio, privately, and in performance.

I have been teaching since 1981. My students range from beginners to polished professionals who need technical coaching to maintain their instrument. I work with singers, speakers, and actors through speaking and singing on the same throat. My technique comes from my own studies with 15 teachers. I teach because of my search for my own teacher who could teach me support, open throated singing, the ease of singing, vocal health, dexterity to sing fast runs freely and with accuracy, and who also understood musical theatre, jazz, and opera. I have learned that far too many teachers do NOT know how to teach others to sing with freedom - in other words - without strain to the instrument. When I developed nodules in my first year of college, I began reading everything I could find about vocal strain, specifically nodules. After the diagnosis I was told to not speak, sing, hum, or even cough for 2 weeks. Then, my ENT doctor told me not to sing for 6 months. That was devastating! As a singer - just try not to sing even for 2 days and you will understand my frustrations. I found a teacher who helped me develop my voice again - very slowly and gently. It was like learning to walk all over again and having to learn to use different muscle groups.

I choose to ensure that others do not have to go through what I did. I still sing for private functions but am making my living teaching to ensure others have the opportunities I never had. To sing or speak for 2 - 3 hours non-stop means that you need technical training to strengthen your muscles to support you while on stage. Far too often I have people come to me who are midway through the run of a theatre, musical, or opera production and have "fried" voices due to strain and no breath support. I help them retrain their voice to support their performance and to maintain consistent vocal health.

All of my students learn vocal and physical exercises that support the voice, not tear it down to a raw and sore throat. It is a travesty to any performer to have a sore throat - especially if it is caused by improper use of the instrument. All of my students receive the same technical background to begin with. Vowels and exercises for 6 months to ensure a healthy throat for all of my beginning students.

How we approach your lessons depends upon your immediate goals, long-term goals, and field of expertise.

ALL VOCAL STUDENTS LEARN:
Breath support, body awareness through posture and muscle strengthening, basic pedagogy to understand which muscles do the work in our throats and entire body, exercises for muscle strength, technical training, vowels, ear training for accuracy, diction - diction - diction, theoretical studies, international phonetics for language accuracy, overall interpretation of the piece they are working on, and how to relate speaking to singing.

ACTORS learn exercises to warm up their instrument, diction exercises for accuracy of language, new approaches to memorize monologues, body work for freedom of the voice, preparation for auditions and performances, strength training for endurance, study of tempo, interpretation, and expression, and overall vocal health. Read the paragraph about singers as well.

SPEAKERS receive the same approach as actors with emphasis on technique, diction, presentation, and interpretation.

SINGERS learn to use their voice as an instrument that remains consistent through speech and song, breath support, posture, diction, international phonetic alphabet, a practice regimen for warm ups and performance prep, body work for relaxation and freedom of the voice, literature that meets the characteristics of the voice and the current abilities of the individual student, language accuracy, interpretation of literature, runs and scales for accuracy and freedom, sight reading and aural skills, music theory and music history referring to the composer whose music you are studying, and how to relate speaking to singing.

I have helped many young singers go on to music scholarships at music schools and summer music programs - musical theatre, opera, jazz, and rock. Those students who learn how to practice become truly wonderful singers. It takes discipline, desire, expression, emotion, physical stamina, self confidence, memorization skills, and listening to music ALL THE TIME.

The professionals who study with me walk out of my studio knowing their instrument and how to protect it from negative health issues. They learn how to feel their way through a performance. This means that we become physically in tune with how our muscles work and we trust that sensation instead of listening to ourselves which changes the way the muscles function. Power comes from all the muscles working together, not against each other. The more we practice with support and sensation, the stronger our instrument becomes. We must develope the muscles, not tear them down! This work has made the difference between a singer being a chorus member and being a lead performer. It also makes the difference in an actor being a lead role, supporting character, or part of the chorus. It takes you practicing and me teaching to the best of our abilities. We both will succeed.

INSTRUMENTAL:

PIANO STUDENTS learn ALL of the basics about the keyboard as well as classical technique with finger exercises, scales, arpeggios, sight reading & aural skills, music theory & history, composition, form & style analysis, harmonic structure, and we incorporate styles such as jazz, pop & rock along with our classical literature.

I also teach BEGINNING GUITAR with studies of classical technique for scales, fingering, picking, and sight reading as well as study of harmonic structure with chords and finger picking. Sight reading is a must. I use basic music theory so students can play melodic lines as well as chords in every style. Students also learn to write guitar music.

see less