Hello, from Bakertunes
Bakertunes kind of sums me up. My name is Sarah Baker and I have been working as a musician, composer and teacher for over twenty years.
This blog is about my experiences in the classroom, as a piano teacher and as a composer.
It is about music and education.
Music …
I have loved music all my life.
As a little girl I danced and sang around the living room at home. At age five, I started to learn the piano and then later the cello. As a teenager I started to write songs and compose music and I took my first music pupils before I had even left home.
Music is a central part of my life, a vital part of my identity and the essential way that I express myself. It is part of my own therapy, a channel for my thoughts and emotions.
As an adult, I have become a professional music teacher. I care deeply about passing on my love of music to my pupils and family, and I have come to understand that music education has a much wider significance than just learning to play an instrument.
… and Education
Music touches us as creative beings in a unique way and so impacts and influences the way we perform in other spheres. Often it helps to stimulate or enhance learning in other disciplines.
In my over-twenty years’ of experience as a music teacher I have witnessed how the power of music can transform children’s lives. As part of my work I am a vocal music teacher. Communal singing in the classroom benefits children in unexpected ways and I have been astonished seeing children who struggle academically in increasingly pressurised school environments thriving in singing lessons and excelling in performances.
This blog is a place where I’ll explore these two themes—music and education—and how they interact and intertwine. Sometimes I’ll write more about music, pieces I’ve written or been inspired by. Other times, I’ll focus more directly on education and my teaching experiences, both in the classroom and one-to-one.