Thomas Wall

     I've has been playing music since age 11 in all kinds of venues ranging from established clubs and concert halls to grimy punk house basements all across the world. I began playing bass with my brother and his friends in a small band right outside of Washington, DC. One band became two, then three, and soon he was playing in rock bands, metal and hardcore punk groups, and jazz combos up and down the east coast.

     At age 18, I went to New York City to attend college at The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music where he would study under players and composers who have worked with the likes of Miles Davis, John Coltrane, John Cage, and Bobby McFerrin. After spending four years absorbing jazz and earning a Bachelor's degree, New York's fertile and exciting scene drove me back into the arms of my first musical love, heavy metal, with a renewed fervor and fresh ideas. During this time I interned at the legendary Earache Records, working with the people who revolutionized Metal music in the 90s and came to make great friends in the industry and global heavy music scene.

     In 2020, I joined the up and coming death metal band Undeath just as they were rocketed to the world stage. Since joining, Undeath has charted on the Billboard Top 200, has released the Metal Album of the Year according to esteemed Decibel Magazine in 2022, and has toured globally playing stages all across the UK, Europe, China, Japan, Southeast Asia, and Australia in addition to crossing the USA several times over. I bring 22 years of experience and passion to teaching and have faced every challenge a musician can face in that time, and I'm thrilled to share my knowledge of how to overcome them.

I am a college educated instructor who tutored music theory in college who regularly works with local punk rock musicians, so I have a huge breadth of experience teaching people on all levels of proficiency in music. I'm happy to create and build familiarity in standard notation at a jazz level, but can also explain your standard pop song and chart, all while having the same level of comfort dealing with your 20 minute plus prog rock epic. 

I try and make sure all my students can play what they hear in their heads which often involves building an understanding of basic music theory, stylistic analysis, and approachable and practical ear training. Regardless of the level of complexity, I approach each case with patience and a sense of fun!