About Sarah - Portland Piano Lessons

I’m Sarah Collins, and for me, piano isn’t just about learning notes — it’s about helping people feel grounded, expressive, and connected through music.

I teach piano because I believe learning music should feel supportive, steady, and human — not intimidating, rushed, or mechanical. Whether a student is brand new or returning after years away, my goal is the same: to create lessons that feel safe enough to explore and structured enough to grow.

How I approach teaching

I bring patience, curiosity, and emotional awareness into every lesson. My background as a preschool teacher deeply shaped the way I teach — especially how I notice pacing, motivation, and nervous systems at work in learning.

In lessons, I focus on:

• steady progress without pressure
• building confidence alongside skill
• helping students understand why things work, not just how
• making room for creativity as well as technique

Music is personal, and learning it should be, too.

Who I work with

I primarily teach:

• beginners and intermediate students
• returning adult learners
• kids and teens
• students who want progress that feels encouraging rather than stressful

Many of the people I work with didn’t have positive early experiences with music lessons — or assumed they “just weren’t musical.” Helping students rewrite that story is one of the most meaningful parts of my work.

A Story About Sarah's own Piano Journey:

Excited to learn

When I was small, there was this McDonald’s commercial with a little girl in a red velvet dress playing Fur Elise at a piano recital. For reasons that likely involved food and clothing as much as anything else (lol), I wanted to be that kid — and I started asking for piano lessons.

Early lessons, and early disappointment

But when I actually started lessons, the experience wasn’t at all what I’d expected.

I asked early on if I could learn Für Elise and my teacher had me stretch my six-year-old hands across the keys to measure them. She told me that until they reached an octave easily, we wouldn’t be playing Für Elise.

(Note: I still have small hands, and didn't comfortably reach an octave until a later teacher gently guided me into extended hand positions.)

Instead she guided me through a method book that I liked well enough and chose piece after piece for me — none of which I was particularly interested in. Playing with a metronome was required throughout, and when I struggled with that, she held it close to my ear while I played.

Which was the opposite of helpful.

Finding music elsewhere

I managed to get out of piano lessons with that teacher by around age nine. My parents were determined that my brother and I have a good music education, though — and that included piano — so there were more piano teachers. 

Even though I have a remarkable memory for people, I don’t remember anything about those teachers.

What I do remember is discovering other instruments.

I picked up cello for a year, recorder during that one year at school when we all played recorder, clarinet in concert band and then marching band, guitar — and I loved each one. Every instrument offers a different glimpse into music, and the journey from beginner to intermediate (and beyond) is so very worth it.

College, and the turning point

Then came college.

I’d been taking voice lessons for years, sang in varsity and show choirs, and was excited to pursue a BFA in Musical Theater. I met with a counselor to talk through my courses and found out I would need:

THREE YEARS OF PIANO

Noooooo!

For Musical Theater?!

But my college piano professors were a turning point.

One of my professors had five fingers total and you better believe she didn’t care about the size of my hands. In our very first lesson, she showed me how to leap from key to key to play through extended hand positions. Doors were opening.

At university, I became the Assistant Musical Director for a Sondheim show, which included a fair amount of vocal coaching.

Which meant I needed to play a fair amount of piano.

Teaching, almost by accident

After graduation, still determined to be a musical theater actress, I started performing professionally in Austin. The musical director of the company I was working with, Broadway Texas, asked if he could send a couple of voice students my way. 

When I told him I didn’t teach, he smiled and said,
“You should.”

Voice lessons require the teacher to play a good bit of piano.

So deeper I went.

Learning how to teach

I moved to Portland in 2006 and took a part-time job teaching preschool at Childswork Learning Center. That's where I started getting a real education in what it actually means to teach.

I loved it.

I taught three- to five-year-olds 

for three years, and during that time I’m pretty sure I learned more than I did in college. I taught music every day, and it was easily my favorite part of the job.

As I started thinking about next steps, a colleague recommended teaching piano to small children.

He met with me, gave me advice — and I incredulously jumped in.

That was 2010.

By 2011, I had a full studio and had never been happier in any job.

Where I am now

These days, I have a deep, hard-earned love for piano.  

The piano is sturdy and strong. It holds all of your feelings, no matter how big they are. It vibrates as you play, and when you use the pedals, your whole body vibrates with it. With its 88 keys, you can make an astonishing number of sounds — and the work of finding the sound you want becomes part of the joy.

The piano has roots in Western Europe, but it has been played just as deeply by BIPOC musicians around the world. It’s at the heart of some of our coolest musical genres, like ragtime. And it invites your whole body to stretch, strengthen, and move as you play.

So much of my love for piano comes from watching kids, teens, and adults develop skills and discover sounds they’ve been seeking.

And I especially love teaching people whose first piano experiences were nothing like what they hoped they’d be.