Quality music lessons in the Haliburton Highlands for all ages.
Guitar, bass, ukulele & more.
Meet The Instructor
Nicholas Russell
www.nicholasrussell.ca
Nicholas Russell is a guitarist and music educator based in Haliburton, Ontario. He has over twenty years of experience teaching privately and in college, continuing education, and community music settings, including directing the lesson program at Folkway Music in Waterloo and teaching at Fleming College School of Art + Design during the summer months. He also runs the Haliburton Guitar Studio, offering private instruction locally and online.
Nicholas studied with renowned Canadian guitar maker Sergei De Jonge, building a classical guitar under his guidance, and holds an Honours Degree with a focus in Music. Alongside his teaching, he maintains an active performance career as a soloist, collaborator, and session musician.
Nick’s teaching style is engaging, empathetic, and deeply student-centered, creating a welcoming and supportive environment for learning. Whether in workshops, music clinics, or private lessons, he prioritizes open, conversational interaction that encourages students to feel comfortable expressing themselves. His approach combines clear, practical guidance with active listening, allowing him to tailor instruction to each student’s goals, needs, and learning style. His teaching is also infused with a light sense of humour, helping students stay relaxed, motivated, and inspired throughout the learning process.
For more information, please visit his full biography at www.nicholasrussell.ca.
Instructor video Reel
The Haliburton Guitar Studio offers the Conservatory Canada syllabi from grades 1-8 in Contemporary Idioms - Guitar and Theory.
Successful exams can qualify for highschool accredation. Learn More.
Specializing in online music lessons via Zoom and Facetime.
““I had the pleasure of working with Nick Russell on my first two big band jazz CDs, Kinetic and Arrival. His chord voicings are tasteful, his ability to read written lines is excellent, and his solos are thoughtful and innovative.
I do not hesitate to recommend Nick as a studio guitarist – I hope I have the opportunity to work with him again at some point in the future.” - Ted Blackbourn
”The band is terrific...killer players.” - Don Thompson
“Arrival is one of my favourite big band recordings of 2016...keep the music coming.” - Glen Woodcock, Jazz FM91”
“I was at a point with my guitar playing that I felt that I was in a bit of a rut. I was tired of playing the same music over and over again and not really knowing where to go next. I decided that I needed some lessons with an experienced guitarist. I remembered meeting at one point the Director of the Music program at Folkway Music in Waterloo, Nick Russell. I approached Nick, a highly accomplished player, about lessons and we set up weekly Zoom lessons.
So for over a year I took lessons from Nick and learned tremendously from those Zoom sessions. Nick has an excellent teaching style and grounds the music in an approach that is manageable and enjoyable. As a result of my Zoom lessons, I am now pursuing new songs with more confidence. The added bonus is that I have also gained new insights in terms of music theory and music production. Without a doubt, I have surpassed my initial goals and it is thanks to the generous and engaged teaching style.”
“Nick has been a fabulous guitar teacher for my daughter. His enthusiasm is infectious and motivating. He takes interest in her as a person, and tailors lessons and songs to her individual interests, not only just using a cookie cutter curriculum. His skill as a musician and understanding of music theory is infused in his lessons from very early on. Nick’s familiarity with many guitar playing styles, his experience as a performer, as well as music history really add to the value of his lessons.”
“Lessons with Nicholas Russell are very useful and helped me a lot for college. These lessons taught many various things such as how to improvise using different scale tones and chord tones. He has taught me how to properly substitute chords and taught me different voicing for chords. He has also helped me expand my knowledge of music theory and understanding of chord progressions and how to improvise over them. His teaching methods are spectacular and he has developed my ear training to a level that I did not expect. His lessons got me into one of the best programs for music in Ontario, so I thank him for that.”
