Experienced voice actor Shane Watkins teaches our one-on-one class

Learn Voice Over at NHTunes! If you are interested in exploring a career in Voice Over, our experienced, expert instructors will get you started! Our in-studio learning options include one-on-one private training, or a group course.

All courses take place in our professional studio, which is located in the Manchester mill yard just off on I-293.

One-On-One Training

Our one-on-one option allows for a customized curriculum based on the student’s experience level and goals, and will cover the following topics; invaluable information for those looking to get started in the exciting field of voice over acting:

• The different types of Voice Over acting (i.e. audio books, commercials, corporate, etc..)
• Practicing routines and vocal exercises
• Creating effective demos
• Home studio setup
• How to audition
• Setting up your own business
• Marketing and branding (finding jobs)
• Agents and agencies
• More!

You can schedule your one-on-one training HERE. If you have questions, feel free to contact us HERE.

Voice Over Course

Experienced voice actor JC Haze teaches our Voice Over course

When you sign up for our “Intro to Voice Over” course, JC Haze shares his wealth of knowledge to help you get started in your OWN voice over career! JC will coach you through scripts and help you be the best voice actor you can be!

You’ll learn:

• How to voice commercial copy and narrations
• Pay-to-Play websites
• How to audition
• How to dissect a script
• Multiple-person scripts
• How to build your OWN studio, for UNDER $500
• Marketing in voice overs
• What Casting Agents look-for
• What a voice over demo should sound like
• How being an ACTOR can help you be a great voice over.

And much more!

This is a four-week course which is run on Monday evenings, 6-8pm . You can see our next course dates and sign up HERE.

Learn Voice Over at Manchester’s premier studio, NHTunes!

For nearly a decade, NHTunes has been providing free monthly entertainment to local nursing homes and assisted living facilities – something we are very proud of. Recently, the Coronavirus pandemic has made our live recitals impossible. So, we decided to do something to continue to support our local seniors and provide them with much needed entertainment.

Over a dozen of our students came together to film their performances for free distribution to local senior homes and similar venues. The filming took place over two Saturday afternoons in September ’20. Performer ages varied from 5 to 50+! Performances include singing, guitar, piano, and ukulele.

DVD’s were produced in-house, and to date have been delivered to over a dozen local senior homes. In addition, many have streamed the performance directly from YouTube. The feedback has been fantastic! With this single video we’ve been able to provide entertainment to hundreds of local seniors!

We’re proud of our students stepping up and providing this great community service that supports the local senior community. We’re proud also of our annual holiday gift drive for ‘Meals On Wheels’. Each year our students donate hundreds of gifts that are delivered to local homebound seniors; for many, this is the only gift they’ll receive during the holiday season.

We are proud of our student’s contributions to our local community! In addition to the above, to we also:

• Employ a dozen music instructors, several of whom are full time here at the studio.
• Advertise through local schools and businesses.
• Support local businesses when possible: our web hosting and marketing support team, a local music store for instrument repair, and even our piano tuner are all local small businesses.
• Regularly provide free mentoring to local high school students who are interested in pursuing a music career

When was the last time you walked into a large chain store and were greeted by name?

Our small businesses contribute so much to the local landscape and economy that it’s important to support them in this time of need. Sadly, it was recently reported that nearly five hundred New Hampshire small businesses have closed since the start of the pandemic.

NHTunes, like many small businesses, contributes to our neighborhood in many ways; here are a few:

How can we help our small businesses get through this difficult period? Here are three great ways to support them:

• Recommend a locally owned small business to others.
  • Our number one source of new students are customer referrals. If you hear of someone looking for music or voice lessons, or a place to record themselves or their band, please recommend us! Have you gone out to eat recently at a locally owned restaurant and had a great experience? Recommend them! Small businesses get most new customers from referrals, and it’s free for you to show your support!
• Utilize small business services when in need.
  • Small businesses have bent over backwards to redesign themselves to continue to serve their customers through this pandemic. Restaurants have setup temporary dining areas outside; hair salons have limited concurrent appointments and have setup shields and other PPE to keep their customers safe; music studios such as ours have moved to online learning. If you’re in need of local services, the chances are that you can safely get what you need. Thinking “local first” when you need to make a purchase will make a huge difference.
• Purchase a gift certificate.
  • Most small businesses offer gift certificates for their services or products, and now is the perfect time to show your support. For example, you may know someone who would like to learn to play the guitar, or piano. Purchase a gift certificate for them and support a local business. Gift certificate sales can keep small business alive until sales levels return to normal.

Half of all New Hampshire workers are employed by small businesses. Your support is needed so that this vital part of our community’s economy and culture will survive through this difficult period.

Ableton Live! is today’s premier software for creating beats

Learn Beat Making in Manchester NH; Learn to produce modern beats in Ableton Live! Whether you’re a beginner or intermediate, our expert one-on-one instruction in our Manchester NH studio will help you to master Ableton and produce professional sounding beats.

The following topics are covered:

• Setting up Ableton and your interface
• Recording midi and audio
• Using samples and editing to create your own drum beats
• Using instruments
• Using effects (EQ, delay, reverb, compression, etc).
• Exporting your songs

Additional topics covered include song writing and structure, and basic music theory.

Our Ableton Live training is perfect for someone who wants to learn the basics of beat making, or current beat makers who want to learn music theory to enhance their beats.

These lessons are in our Manchester NH studio and are suitable for students of all ages. Many musical genres are covered, and can be tailored to the student’s interest. Most students schedule one class a week for several weeks to gain knowledge in the workflow and features of Ableton Live.

Learn Beat Making in Manchester NH; schedule your first lesson with our online scheduler below! Have questions? Contact us HERE, or call 603-660-2208.

Your Instructor, Ethan Brown, has his B.M. in Music Education, and B.A. in Jazz Guitar Performance from UNH.

Many people perceive online lessons as being inferior to in-studio, but is this true? 

Social distancing has required our studio to rapidly switch to online music and voice lessons, at least for the immediate future. Over the few weeks that we’ve been giving them, both our instructors and students have adapted very well to the changes that online learning require. Let’s look at the differences that instructors and students need to make for online, and if or how they impact the effectiveness of lessons.

For instructors, online lessons require more prep time, and this is good. With the lag that comes with an internet connection, it’s not possible for a student and instructor to play together, so more of the lesson deals with actual instruction.

Instructors also need to pay very close attention to critique their students, which again is good. As the audio isn’t always ideal, as a guitar instructor I find myself watching my students hands very closely, as it’s not possible to hear everything over the connection like it is in person.

As performing together isn’t possible, more time is spent on actual learning, which again is good. I find that my online lessons usually have several actual learning objectives, which is beneficial for the student.

For students, from a learning perspective the major difference we see is that a student needs a better sense of engagement with online lessons, which is a huge benefit. Instructors will be demonstrating techniques and expecting their students to observe and ‘do’. So how does this differ from in-studio? Since students and instructors can’t play together, this back-and-forth continues for the entire lesson, which requires a great deal of concentration and engagement from the student.

Lastly, since students and instructors can’t perform together, students are under (self-inflicted) pressure as they perform their pieces on their own, which means that students prepare more for their lessons. Most students want to impress their instructors with their skills, and they’ll practice harder when they know the spotlight is on them.

So there you have it. Online vs. in-studio lessons are very much a different experience, but overall it’s been our experience that, outside of the usual benefits (no travel time, more flexible lesson scheduling, etc), we find that online music lessons are at least as, if not more effective than in-studio for the reasons above.

That said, most students and instructors prefer traditional in-studio lessons as they are more relaxed, they allow performing together, and less stressful for both the students and instructors.

Thinking of trying music or voice lessons? Make Manchester’s NHTunes YOUR music studio and you’ll see all of the extras that our studio offers our students!

Here are the MANY benefits that NHTunes offers to our music students!

1. No registration fee… EVER! We are honored to have your business and would never charge a new student for taking lessons at our studio.
2. We have the most competitive pricing around – just $29.50 for a half hour private music or voice lesson!
3. All of our instructors are music professionals with BA+ in music!
4. Free offsite student recitals every 6 weeks! What a great opportunity to gain valuable performance experience and confidence in your music abilities.
5. Try without a commitment! Schedule a single music or voice lesson HERE.
6. Don’t want to commit? Schedule weekly lessons at your leisure! Our online scheduler makes it EASY!
7. Convenient month pay for those who decide to take regular weekly lessons. And with auto-pay, your tuition will NEVER increase!
8. NHTunes offers free in-studio loaners for those who do not yet own an instrument. Want to rent? We have a GREAT rental program!
9. NHTunes is a locally-owned small business that has been at their current location for over eight years!

Our mission is to be a valued part of this community; a place where students of all ages and abilities can learn from qualified and enthusiastic instructors at a reasonable cost. We offer our students opportunities outside of their lessons for their musical development and growth. We know that competency in music can instill self-confidence that extends to many facets of a student’s life, and we see our students use this empowerment as they grow. We want to be YOUR music school; a place where student’s lives are transformed by providing guidance, mentoring, and opportunity.

In addition to music and voice lessons, Manchester’s  NHTunes teaches voice over and audio engineering courses. See below for our latest course offerings.

Learn  Voice Over! (Level 1) – Begins Monday September 14th @ 6pm

Our Voice Over course is perfect for someone considering a career in the field of voice over! The course takes place in the NHTunes recording studio, and is taught by voice over artise JC Haze, a 35 year broadcast and voice over professional. Courses generally run on Monday evenings from 6-8pm.

Voice over sign-up HERE, more details on the course HERE.

Learn to Record and Mix! – Begins Saturday September 12th @  10:00 am

Our Audio Engineering course is designed to teach students to record and mix their own music. The non-credit course if offered through Manchester Community College, and generally runs on Saturday mornings 10am-noon, in our professional recording studio. Students work with real-world sessions to learn the tools used to create a great mix, focusing on the application of compression, EQ, and gating.

Audio Engineering sign-up HERE, more details on the course HERE.

If you or your child are involved in musical theater and are seeking professional voice training, NHTunes voice instructor Valentina Bashindzhagyan has years of experience with singing training for musical theater, and is an EXCELLENT choice. Professional voice lessons will give your child the edge, and will help them to develop a strong, healthy, and versatile singing voice. Many of Valentina’s students have gone on to attend Berkeley and other distinguished music programs.

Valentina’s area of specialty includes:

• Classical repertoire, Opera, Broadway, Disney, classical jazz, etc.
• Audition and performance preparation, including college audition prep.
• Breathing and warm up exercises (especially critical before that big audition!)
• Sight reading
• Vocalise (vocal exercises)

Valentina graduated from the Music Concentration School, located in Baku, Azerbaijan for musically gifted youths, as a pianist. She continued her musical education at the Azerbaijan State Conservatory receiving a bachelor’s and master’s degree in operatic singing. She has worked as a soloist in both the Baku State Academic Opera Theater and the Moscow State Academic Russian Chorus. She also formed and directed the children’s chorus Vasilyek in Moscow.

You see Valentina’s schedule or book a lesson here:

See Valentina’s Schedule / Schedule Appointment

Our private half-hour lessons are just $29.50, and you can try a single lesson before deciding whether to continue with regular weekly lessons. If you have questions regarding singing training for musical theater, feel free to call the studio at 603-660-2208, or contact us HERE.

Located in Manchester’s mill yard, NHTunes is a professional 1800 sq ft music studio with a dozen professional music teachers, offering instruction on guitar, voice, piano, ukulele, drums, brass, and more! Our newly renovated studio features a large, comfortable waiting area, A/C, and security cameras in each of our six lessons rooms.