An Interview with Sarah Walker
Director, Music Together with Sarah, Perth, Australia

Sarah Walker, Director of Music Together with Sarah (Photographer: Janine Sheen Photography)

Sarah first found out about Music Together in 2009, when she took her 10-month-old son to class while living in San Francisco. When her family moved back to their native Australia in 2012, Sarah missed class so much that she started her own center. We recently sat down with Sarah to get more ideas for parents looking to play musically at home.

Read on for inspiration!


What are some easy ways for parents to get started making music at home?

Your child can learn musical skills from anyone, but the LOVE of music—the motivation to want to make it—comes from watching the people they love the most: YOU! So, show your children that you love music and play musically together. Here are a couple of ideas:

  • Be silly and have fun with the music on the Music Together recordings. Make up your own versions and sing around the house and when you're out and about.
  • Put on some music and have a dance around your living room. Dance with your child in your arms and then put them down and dance for them. They'll have fun trying to copy you—and be sure you copy their moves, too!
  • Have a box of instruments that can easily be taken out and played. A mix of store-bought and homemade instruments. Kitchen items can be great for this: a few ice trays, bowls, wooden spoons, and cups can make for an awesome jam session!
  • Play them your favorite songs. You don't need to limit them to just kids' music!

Image of Parents Singing and Making Music in Class (Photographer: Janine Sheen Photography)Do you have any recommendations for parents who are a little shy about their singing voices?

Lullabies at bedtime are an ideal starting place for parents who might feel self-conscious singing at the playground or while pushing a trolley around the supermarket. It's just the parents and child, it's usually quiet, and the child has the opportunity to look up and watch their parents' faces and feel them close to them as they are gently lulled to sleep by their mum's or dad's singing voice.

In class, I remind parents that their child won't know if they are singing in tune: They'll just know whether they are singing or not. To children, their parent's voice is the most important one in the room; it's the most important voice in their world. And nothing is sweeter or more comforting for a child than the sound of their parents singing to them.

What are some of your favorite ways to use music with your own children?

At home, we sing a lot around the house and in the car. We have family play-alongs and sometimes we just put the music on and dance around the house! We make up our own versions of songs, listen to music, and we have an instrument box that sits out in our lounge, and storybooks that can be sung.

When my children were really little, my favorite times to sing to them were nappy-changing time, meal times, and bath times—and when I was pushing them on the swing at the park! And, of course, bedtime, which hasn't changed. Every night, even now that my children are little older (6 ½ and 9 ½), we still sing them lullabies.

How did you get started as a Music Together director?

I've been running my center since 2012. My children both went to Music Together when they were younger. In fact, it was one of the reasons I started my own center in Perth, Australia. I missed the classes for myself and I wanted my daughter to experience them!

While living in San Francisco, I wanted to take my 10-month-old son to a music class. I looked around and was drawn to the music of Music Together, since it was well-produced and didn't' sound like your average kiddie music. I LOVED the classes, and I decided to take the Teacher Training Workshop, as something extra to do whilst I was taking a break from working as an occupational therapist.

I was so impressed with the quality of the training and the program itself. The curriculum was content-rich and research-based, and the experience-based learning approach complimented my OT background really well.

We moved back home to Perth when I was pregnant with my daughter, and I couldn't shake the feeling that I wanted Music Together to be available to families here so that they could enjoy the same high-quality program I had in California. Someone just had to start up a center-and that someone ended up being me!

Sarah Walker with Class around Gathering Drums (Photographer: Janine Sheen Photography)What do you like the most about being a Music Together teacher?

The community. Being a witness to communities of love and compassion, of human connection, through music. Connections between caregivers and children, children in class, each class group as a whole, and the community of classes that come each week.

They say that music likely preceded language, and when you see these connections taking place each week before you, you start to understand how singing can express so much more than speaking. It is both a humbling and a joyful feeling to be a small part of fostering this!

Photographer: Janine Sheen Photography.