Established 2016 · Balewadi, Pune
Every note learnt is a step on a much longer journey.
SSAMS has been teaching music in Pune since 2016 — first as a music school, now as a conservatory too. What has not changed is the belief that music is worth learning properly, and that almost anyone can.
Where this came from
A school built on a musical inheritance.
SSAMS was founded in 2016 by Shirley Manuel. Before that she had spent thirteen years working alongside her father at his school, Rebecca Music Academy, latterly as its Associate Director. Her father, the guitarist Samson Manuel, had put her at the piano at five and set the whole thing in motion.
That inheritance shapes how the place is run. Music here is not treated as an enrichment activity or a line on a school application. It is treated as a discipline with a tradition behind it, worth learning on its own terms.
We began with weekly one-to-one lessons and have grown into a full-time conservatory alongside them — because a serious musical education needs more time than an hour a week can give it.
Shirley Manuel teaching — at the piano with a student, in the Balewadi studio
Photography to come
Our philosophy
Our mission goes beyond teaching instrumental skill.
Alongside technique we teach aural perception, sight-reading, singing, rhythm, composition and improvisation — because those are what make a well-rounded musician rather than a competent operator of an instrument. We believe music is closely linked to mental and physical wellbeing, and we teach it as a way of life rather than a set of examinations to pass.
What we hold to
Five things we will not compromise on.
- 01
Inclusivity
There is a musician in everyone, and no age at which it is too late. We have taught five-year-olds and people well into retirement, and neither has ever been the wrong age to begin.
- 02
Individual growth
Every student’s musical needs are different, which makes every journey different. We tailor training to the individual rather than running everyone through the same sequence.
- 03
Authentic expression
Each student has their own voice. We build the technical skill that makes it possible to use it, and then we get out of the way.
- 04
Empowerment
We do not spoon-feed. Lessons are designed to make students think for themselves, because a student who can solve their own problems keeps improving after the lesson ends.
- 05
Community
Music brings people together. Our recitals, concerts and competitions exist as much to build that community as to assess anybody.
A lesson in progress — teacher and student, hands and score, natural light
Photography to come
How we teach
We would rather a student worked it out than was told.
Technique comes first and is never skipped. It is the cornerstone of any good performance and the reason a player is still comfortable at their instrument decades later.
Beyond that, our lesson plans are built to provoke curiosity rather than supply answers. We give students methods and strategies and then let them push at a problem themselves. It is slower in the moment and considerably faster over years, because it produces students who can teach themselves.
The relationship matters too. Trust between teacher and student is what makes honest feedback possible — and honest feedback is the only kind worth giving.
Come and hear the place before you decide.
Trial lessons are by appointment, and there is no obligation attached to one. Tell us who is learning and what they want from it, and we will tell you honestly whether we are the right school.