Tom Hess Bio

Tom Hess - The Musician and Composer

Tom began playing guitar on January 31st, 1986. His early influences included bands such as Def Leppard, Van Halen and Metallica.

Later on, after hearing artists such as Yngwie Malmsteen, Jason Becker, George Bellas and Dream Theater, Tom became driven to become a virtuoso guitarist and composer that he is today. This eventually led him to enter music schools and earn 2 music degrees: one in Music Theory and one in Music Composition. Tom also studied with the Lion Music recording artist George Bellas for several years (among other teachers).

Tom has toured the world in the band HolyHell (http://www.holyhell.com/), playing alongside bands such as Black Sabbath (Heaven and Hell), Motorhead, Night Wish, Eprica, Testament, Manowar and Rhapsody of Fire. Tom and HolyHell have performed in front of sold out crowds of tens of thousands of fans including multiple shows in Germany and Czech Republic appearing at the German Earthshaker Fest 2005 and the Czech Masters of Rock Festivals. HolyHell’s debut single “Apocalypse” is clawing its way up the European charts throughout Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Click here to see the tour photos from the 2005 and 2007 tours.

Tom is also the main composer of his own instrumental band, HESS. The HESS band releases Opus 1 and Opus 2, have sold successfully in multiple countries around the world. The album reviews and interviews with Tom and the HESS band are available in the CD reviews and interviews sections of this site.

Early musical influences: Def Leppard, Van Halen, Metallica, Iron Maiden, Ozzy, Dio.
Later influences: Fryderyk Chopin (1810-1849) Yngwie Malmsteen, Jason Becker, Marty Friedman, Andy LaRocque, Dream Theater, George Bellas, J.S. Bach (1685-1750), Fabio Leone, Paul Gilbert, Mike Walsh, Symphony X, Johannes Brahms (1833-1897), Richard Wagner (1813-1883), Claude Debussy (1826-1918), Gustav Mahler (1860-1911), Henryk Gorecki (b. 1935).

Discography:

Endorsements:

Videos of Tom playing excerpts from:

Hess ~ Opus 2: Kingdoms (Op. 2 No. 2)	HolyHell Tour
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More videos are available on the Videos page

Tom Hess - The Music Teacher, Trainer, Coach and Mentor

In addtion to being a successful recording artist and composer, Tom is also a very dedicated music teacher.

He has taught tens of thousands of music lessons to guitar players all over the world. In addition to teaching private guitar lessons, clinics, workshops and master classes around the United States, Tom teaches guitar to students from all over the world through his Correspondence Lessons program, and Improvisation Training Classes.

A few of Tom's noteworthy students can be seen and heard on the Student Spotlight page.

Tom also mentors musicians from all over the world (both up and coming as well as seasoned pros) on how to make their music careers and businesses more successful and more profitable in his Music Careers Mentoring Program (MCMP) and the Elite Guitar Teachers Inner Circle.

Other Instructional Products:

Tom has also taught at the National Guitar Workshop and has started and directed an electric guitar program at Harper College in Illinois.

Tom's instructional articles are published on dozens of instructional websites around the world.