“….nothing beats working with a live teacher who knows what he’s doing.”
I first saw Josh when he was teaching on the stage of a Richmond Middle School band concert. He was bobbing his head up and down, loose and comfortable in his element, lost in the music. I love observing someone whose heart is “into” whatever they’re doing.
Fast forward three years.
My children are in high school, Covid hits, and I start songwriting to exercise the creative side of the brain which has been dormant for decades. While it is possible to learn a little bit of guitar from youtube, nothing beats working with a live teacher who knows what he’s doing. Every week random guitar questions bubble up for me. Being able to go over them with Josh is making me progress faster than I would on my own and inspiring me to continue creating!
-Jennifer Voelker (Hanover, NH)
Private Music Lessons and Classes
1/2 Hour Lesson = $40
Come with a question.
We’ll find the answer.
In-Person or Zoom.
1 hour lesson = $75
Hour lessons are for students who ready for two to three times the material or come irregularly.
In-Person or Zoom
In this EPUB Book, we learn the major, minor, and diminished chords that occur naturally in Western Music. Starting with intervals and leading to chord scales on string sets 1,2,3…2,3,4…3,4,5….and 4,5,6; I take you step by step and show you how to build chords and play them with recorded examples.
Learn to play 5 Major Scales in the 2nd Position on the guitar. You learn to play the C, G, F, D, and A Major Scales and play them in succession as a practice routine for 28 Days. This is an EPUB book with embedded audio examples. You will be able to play along with me for each stage of the practice.
This is the EPUB version of my course Introduction to the Modes. It contains audio examples embedded into the book. This is like having me play the modes and the backing track examples for you. It is a great option for those of you who have Apple Books or other EPUB readers.
primary, intermediate, and advanced music instruction on
Classical Guitar, Electric Guitar, Electric Bass, Ukulele, Keyboard, Recording, Mixing, and Music Production.
Depending on the student, I will also work with all of the concert band instruments, as well as, orchestra instruments.
All lessons focus on the universal language of music and how to engage with it. Topics include but are not limited to music:
History
Theory
Production (recording, mixing, mastering, releasing music)
Composition + Songwriting
Philosophy
Gigging and Promotion
Health and Well-Being
What about Technique?
We’ll see where you are and go from there……….
Private Music Lessons consist of:
“The teacher is of course an artist, but being an artist does not mean that he or she can make the profile, can shape the students. What the educator does in teaching is to make it possible for the students to become themselves.”
― Paulo Freire
We Make the Road by Walking: Conversations on Education and Social Change
“I first started taking lessons with Josh, when I was eight years old. Josh was one of my first mentors and guitar teachers. He has been a major impact on my life, to this day. All of the fundamental knowledge I learned and more on the guitar as a child, was taught to me by Josh. I recall this information, decades past, as I maintain these practices, technically from time to time. Josh spans the gamut of genres educationally. In our lessons we went from hard rock to classical which is where I reside today. Those musical seeds were planted under Josh’s influence and today they are a forest, thanks largely in part to his guidance. Josh knows how to read a student’s potential and unlock it within them and allow it to flourish within the pupil’s principle instrument. Most important, Josh is a sincere human being, whom is one of the most selfless people I have ever met. It isn’t often you run across someone as thorough, kind, patient and wise as Josh. You are lucky if you find yourself under his direction, as an educator, mentor, musician, and or friend. I am proud to say that I have had the privilege to be under all of those directions with Josh in my thirty years.”
Thayer Naples (guitarist, composer, session musician)
Testimonials
I first encountered Josh Hall as the parent of a Richmond School sixth grader. Our son took the required music class and then proceeded to sign up for every single musical activity led by Josh for the next two-and-a-half years. He didn't join chorus because he didn't like to sing, but now regrets skipping that as he finds himself enmeshed in several working New York City Americana bands and called upon frequently to sing harmony. Josh so inspired our son to learn how to play jazz that he ended up working very hard and auditioning to join the New Hampshire All State jazz band when he made it to high school. He played with that ensemble for three years, becoming first tenor sax during his senior year. He also played violin in the New Hampshire All-State Orchestra, none of which would have happened without the inspiration provided by Mr. Hall.
When I myself took on tenor saxophone a few years ago, I asked Josh if I could participate in the middle school jazz band rehearsals. It is no coincidence that I was the worst player in the band and its only 67 year old 7th grader. It was amazing to see these very shy but talented musicians at the beginning of the year morph into people who were clamoring to play solos and who seemed fearless in a performance setting. We all consider Mr. Hall to be a family musical holy person and are grateful to him for the ways in which he's made our lives much better.
Lisa Yaffee (Norwich, Vermont)
A Parent’s Perspective
bringing in a cassette of music I recorded on my stereo of tunes I wanted to learn with Josh Hall in one of our first guitar lessons. When I got to the lesson we put it on and he learned the first tune in a few seconds and taught it to me. The next one came on and he said I think you can figure this one out yourself and we worked through it together—it was challenging but this lesson in using my ears to learn music and to transfer that onto the guitar has stuck with me for many many years and it's something I consider extremely valuable. Josh's mentorship and inspiration over the years has been invaluable in my development as a musician and a human. He allowed me to discover things on my own, but also to teach certain musical tools which I use to this day in my own practices, composing, and teaching. Josh is the reason I know how to read music at all, and also the reason I discovered the music of Frank Zappa, which inevitably send me down the Jazz rabbit hole for which I am endlessly thankful. If you're looking for a Zen, metal, freak-jazz guru, Mr. Hall is your cat."
- Tom Csatari (Uncivilized) NYC
“I’ll Never Forget…
but I’ll start with how it opened up the possibilities of improvising with a group and the confidence to give it a try in the first place. At first I felt really shy, new school, new peers, hadn’t been in a group like Jazz band before. I wanted to raise my hand but felt nervous. Because of how encouraging you were and the way you hopped in yourself with your guitar it really got me feeling comfortable (and I’m sure lots of other kids felt the same). Jazz band really impacted me more than I can even find words to say, I don’t know where I’d be today if I didn’t have such a wonderful experience back then when I was first starting out. Really gave me confidence and opened up an amazing world where I could create anything I wanted. You were very patient, kind, and knew how to build someone up to try something new and have the confidence to play. Really grateful to have had you as a teacher.
Your teaching did a lot…
Starting lessons with a new teacher can be scary, especially if teachers in your past have not been kind, or were discouraging.
Does the idea of a Lesson on Zoom make you nervous?
I believe that 15 minutes with me will be all that you need to discover that I can help you become a truly independent musician, even online. No prepackaged methods, systems, or hacks. Just the universal language of music translated
so you understand it.
Schedule your 15 Minute Free Consultation Today
All you need is a question.
