Anita Manuel

I have a broad range of playing experience including church music, classical music (especially for ballet classes), show music (Charlotte's Web, I'm Getting My Act Together and Taking it on the Road), and straight-ahead jazz for weddings and parties. I studied piano with Felix McGuire, piano, organ, and theory at Hood College, had Suzuki teach training for piano, and studied jazz piano with Randy Halberstadt and recently brushed up my music theory at the University of Washington. I has been teaching piano for about seven years both private students and also at at a local school (Arts in Motion). Currently I teach private students in West Seattle (children and adults) and adult students at Sherman Clay (the Steinway store) downtown near Westlake. I recently added RMM (Recreational Music Making) classes at Sherman Clay for adult beginners. 

I bring my experience as a counselor and an academic teacher into my piano teaching to provide a rich, personalized experience to many different kinds of students, of all ages. I especially like using Roland's Music Tutor and the Faber & Faber Piano Adventures series combined with keyboard-based theory and improvisation but I also uses other methods like Artistry at the Piano for serious classically-oriented students and the brand-new American Popular Piano for students who might be more interested in popular styles, Blues, or jazz. Every student is different and each one gets an individualized program. 

I am so happy my parents gave me ballet and piano lessons when I was a kid. Music really has become a true joy in my life, always there to comfort me, to celebrate, and to just have a good time. I hope you feel that way about music also and if you don't now that you will after learning to play your favorite music. I've had plenty of adventures-living in other countries, riding motorcycles, flying airplanes, and even some rock climbing-but nothing has been such a good friend to me as my music. I just love to sit down and play, both old masters and making it up right in the moment. I hope I can share this love for music with you or your child.