About
Sarah Cashmore, PhD
Welcome! I’m so glad you’re here.
A new perspective on beginner piano
Many aspiring pianists (and their teachers!) treat beginner piano as a painful but necessary hurdle on the way to more impressive playing. But I believe that a person’s first experiences at the piano set important expectations for the rest of their piano journey. If practice is intimidating or boring at the beginning, it’s unlikely to become anything else later on!
I’m dedicated to helping people develop a more sustainable relationship with their piano by making it truly enjoyable and meaningful from the very start. For many people, a drastic change from traditional piano-learning mindset is necessary for their piano — and even their musicianship — to feel like home.
With over 40 years of experience at the piano and a PhD in Education, I specialize in helping beginners take their first steps in ways that feel safe, meaningful, and emotionally attuned. All my work is dedicated to answering one question:
What could learning piano look like
if it was rooted in joy and delight?
What I offer
Drawing on my background in early education and my passion for personal development, I create beginner piano resources that centre creativity, empowerment, and self-expression.
On my blog
I talk a lot about piano learning mindset: a drastic change from traditional piano lesson culture is necessary for your piano — and even your musicianship itself — to feel like home.
If you struggle with the obligations of discipline and perfectionism, a more sustainable relationship with your piano can be built by first believing your music is for you.
If you’d like a more joy-filled approach to learning about how music works, consider learning about music theory as a tool for self-expression.
on my Youtube channel
I share beginner-level tutorials that teach real piano skills in music that you already love!
This tutorial series is perfect for true beginners!
Perfect starting point for playing radio hits!
No talking, just a close look at each line!
My most popular tutorial!
In my Store
I have developed digital resources to support independent learners who may not have a teacher or prefer to go at their own pace.
If you’d like to learn classical music but could use support in reading sheet music, consider my Guided Sheet Music series. These are beginner adaptations of classical pieces with detailed study notes on hand placement, music reading, and technique.
If you’re fairly confident in reading music and are just looking for beginner-level pieces to play, consider one of my compilations
If you’d like to dive deeper into the components of music, you might enjoy one of my webinars:
My teaching background
I started teaching piano in 1998 and spent years working with students of all ages and learning styles. I became curious to understand what made some teaching more effective than others, which led me to pursue a Masters in Education and certification as an elementary school teacher. Inspired more to learn about the history of education, I further pursued a PhD in Philosophy of Education at University of Toronto with a specialization in human development. I published my research on student empowerment and won two research awards for my work.
I went on to teach in the teacher education programs at several universities, most recently University of Toronto, certifying over a thousand new public school teachers and supervising hundreds of graduate research projects.
Soon, however, I felt compelled to bring together my own community of learners, centred around a shared belief in the importance of student empowerment and love of music. I began offering private online lessons in February of 2022 and launched my YouTube channel Piano with Sarah soon after that. I chose to specialize in beginner piano, dedicated to answering one question:
What could learning piano look like if it began
— and remained —
rooted in joy and delight?
Every lesson, video, and blog post I create is intended to enact my wish for aspiring musicians:
That you love the music you play
That your practice is full of joy and delight
That you experience growth that is consistent and reliable
That playing piano feels like spending time with a good friend
Thank you again for visiting my site, and I hope you find everything you need to get started learning piano. Have fun at your piano! ✨🎹✨