“I would teach children music, physics, and philosophy; but most importantly music,
for the patterns in music and all the arts are the keys to learning.”
–Plato
About Me
My name is Sarah Kaukinen, and I am a piano, flute, and music theory teacher. I am classically trained through Conservatory Canada (CC) and have obtained my full Grade 8 certification―piano and theory―and have a long background of leading choirs and teaching music to others.
Piano is my primary instrument. I've been playing it for as long as I can remember, even before my parents signed me up for "official" lessons. I started out with the Royal Conservatory of Canada (RCC), but when my teacher moved away and I had to switch teachers, I was bumped to CC... this was very fortunate, as I found I preferred them! With my natural knack for music and several years of piano under my belt, I started to learn the flute in high school. I fell in love with its gentle woodland quality and bought my own instrument after graduation to continue to learn.
I have been teaching piano and flute now for many years and have experience teaching kids of all ages (4-94) as well as kids with various developmental handicaps. I stress a teaching environment that is as different from student to student as the kids themselves are with only one mandatory aspect: fostering a love of music! I have two different programs for piano and one for flute that I use as a curriculum. How fast we go through the material and how much of the curriculum we follow is entirely up to you.
I look forward to teaching you!
—Sarah Kaukinen
A note on the links to books on SheetMusicPlus: these are all affiliate links, which means I get a small portion of the sales without any additional cost to you!
Up-to-date as of August 28, 2021
Dear Students, and Parents/Guardians of Students,
Over the last few months, I have been contemplating how September is going to look. Based on how things have been progressing, I think that it’s fair to say that our world isn’t going back to “normal” anytime soon. How do we continue our lives in a way that won’t put the health of ourselves and those around us at risk? I would like to continue teaching this fall, but clearly changes will need to be made in how lessons are conducted.
Starting in September, I will be offering both in-person and virtual piano lessons.
In-person lessons will:
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require masks to be worn by everyone attending the lesson; this includes parents and siblings of the student if they will be sitting in during the lesson
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be spaced to have 15 minutes between different family’s lessons, both to allow me to sanitize surfaces and also to prevent different families from being in the house at the same time
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not have colouring pages or books left out in the sitting area (except for those that are used as part of the lesson; all shared materials will be sanitized after each lesson)
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not have “goodies” (except for stickers) given out at the end of lessons
Virtual lessons will:
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be conducted using Zoom
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be offered in the same time slots as regular lessons
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be scheduled to occur at the same time each week (which means the link to the Zoom call can be saved/bookmarked for quick access)
I’m not sure yet how recitals are going to look. These are new and uncertain times, which means we’re all just figuring it out as we go; I’ll keep everyone up-to-date on any changes or developments.
Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions, or concerns. I will also understand if you are uncomfortable coming back to lessons, and just encourage you to keep practicing at home. Keep the music going in your hearts!
Thank you for your continued understanding.
Sarah Kaukinen
August 21, 2020