Rated 5.0 by students·Featured on Twin Cities Live

Learn to read the guitar — the way working musicians do.

Hands-On 6 is a virtual guitar program that teaches sight-reading in standard notation through original exercises composed for the curriculum — thirty years of one-on-one instruction with Tom Reichert.

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Your first lesson is on the house.

Fifteen minutes, one-on-one with Tom. We talk about where you are and where you want to go.

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Years teaching one-on-one
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Students taught worldwide
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Chapters, open string to blues
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How it works

01

Book your free lesson

Grab a free 15-minute consultation. No card, no pressure — just a conversation about your goals.

02

Get a reading plan

Tom maps a path from where you are today to sight-reading, tailored to your pace and the music you love.

03

Start reading music

Weekly live lessons and original exercises. Within a month, most students are reading in 1st position.

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The Method

Most online guitar instruction trades literacy for shortcuts. Tablature tells you which fret, but never which note. Hands-On 6 teaches the actual language of music — so the skill you build transfers everywhere.

The Other Way

Tablature, autoplay videos, finished pop covers. Quick wins that decay the moment the screen turns off.

  • Fret numbers, not note names
  • Memorized fingerings without theory
  • No path to read new music alone

The Hands-On 6 Way

Standard notation, original exercises, one-on-one instruction. A craft you keep for life.

  • Read music from week one
  • Theory grounded in playing
  • Compose your own pieces by month three
Read the full method
Free · No card required

See the method work in one free lesson.

Fifteen minutes with Tom, one-on-one. Bring your guitar and a question, and leave with a plan for where to begin.

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What you will learn

A complete syllabus from open strings to original composition. Every student walks the same road, paced to their own tempo.

01

Read music

Standard notation from the first lesson — the universal language used by every working musician.

02

Notes in 1st position

Every note on the fretboard within the first four frets, named and recognized at sight.

03

Compose melodies

Write your own short pieces using the notes and rhythms you have learned. Theory by doing.

04

Basic open chords

The eight chords that open the door to thousands of songs — voiced cleanly and changed cleanly.

05

The I-IV-V blues

The progression at the heart of rock, country, and pop. Learn it in three keys, then improvise over it.

06

Play along with originals

Sample tracks composed for the curriculum — full-band recordings to play your exercises against.

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About Tom Reichert

Minneapolis, MN · Worldwide via video

Tom Reichert is a Minneapolis guitarist and educator with thirty years of one-on-one teaching experience and a featured appearance on Twin Cities Live.

He built the Hands-On 6 curriculum across three decades of private instruction — refining it lesson by lesson into a course that produces literate, confident players. His students range from absolute beginners to working musicians filling self-taught gaps.

Tom teaches from his home studio in Minneapolis, Minnesota — a wood-paneled room of guitars, amps, and the kind of stillness that makes good practice possible.

Book a lesson with Tom
№ 05

The Book

Tom Reichert · Vol. I
Hands-On 6
A complete curriculum
in standard notation
Hands-On 6, Inc.
$39 · Hardcover · 184 pages

A complete written curriculum of original sight-reading exercises — not familiar pop songs.

Each chapter is calibrated to build on the last. Read your way from open strings to the I-IV-V blues progression and on into your first original composition. Used standalone or alongside lessons.

Table of contents

  1. I.The first six notes
  2. II.1st position complete
  3. III.Melody and phrase
  4. IV.Open chords
  5. V.I-IV-V blues
  6. VI.Composition studies
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Virtual Lessons

One-on-one virtual lessons over video — calibrated to where you are, paced to where you want to go.

30-minute lesson

$XX/ lesson

Best for younger students and quick check-ins

  • Live video, one-on-one
  • Assigned reading after each lesson
  • Lesson recording included
Choose
Most popular

60-minute lesson

$XX/ lesson

The standard adult session

  • Everything in 30-min
  • Deeper theory + composition work
  • Original sample tracks to play against
Start with this

4-lesson package

$XX/ lesson

Commit to a month, save a little

  • Four 60-minute lessons
  • Small package discount
  • Priority scheduling
Choose

Not sure which fits? Start with a free 15-minute consultation

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From students

“I had bounced off three apps before I found Tom. Six months in I am sight-reading pieces I never thought I could play, and I finally understand what I am doing.”
Marcus L. · Brooklyn, NY · Adult beginner
“My son lost interest in lessons until we tried Hands-On 6. Tom treats him like a young musician, not a kid being entertained. He practices without being asked now.”
Diane R. · St. Paul, MN · Parent of teen student
“I have been self-taught for fifteen years and finally wanted to fix the gaps. Tom rebuilt my reading and theory in a way that respected what I already knew. Worth every dollar.”
Ana C. · Lisbon, Portugal · Returning hobbyist
Join 1,200+ students

Ready to read music the right way?

Start with a free 15-minute consultation and find out exactly where you would begin.

№ 08

Frequently asked

Six common questions, briefly answered. Anything else, write to Tom directly.

See full FAQ
Lessons are billed per session at a flat rate. A 30-minute lesson is $XX; a 60-minute lesson is $XX. The first 15 minutes are free as a consultation, no card required. Packages of four lessons receive a small discount.
No. Reading music is what we teach. Most students arrive with no notation experience and leave the first month already sight-reading short exercises in 1st position.
YouTube hands you a tab and a finished song. Hands-On 6 hands you the literacy to read any piece of music ever written. You leave with a transferable skill, not a single song memorized.
Yes. The Hands-On 6 lesson book is sold as a standalone product and ships worldwide. Many students use the book on its own and check in with a single lesson per month for accountability.
Students from age 10 through retired. The curriculum is calibrated to a serious learner of any age. Younger children are placed in a modified track that emphasizes ear and rhythm before notation.
A guitar in working tune, a phone or laptop with a camera, and a quiet room. That is it. Tom will help you set up the camera angle in the first session.
Start today · No card required

Book your free 15-minute lesson with Tom.

Or take the first chapter of the book with you. One PDF of original exercises, all in standard notation — sent once, no drip, no upsell.

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