Joe whiteside

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Joseph Whiteside is an instructor based in Logan Square and the surrounding areas. Originally from Alton, IL, he moved in 2023 to pursue music in the Chicago he now calls home. He is able to teach beginner to intermediate students of all ages in a range of instruments including viola, guitar, ukulele, electric bass, and voice. Professionally trained in the jazz genre and having studied under Cheryl Wilson, Joseph understands and emphasizes that it is not an instructor's job to tell the student where to go but rather to prepare the student with the tools and techniques to take music where the student wants to go. Vocally, Joseph is fluent across a wide range of styles. Having studied music since childhood, Joseph has been playing, performing, and writing music since he was 8 years old. From middle school on, he played in local rock and blues bands and switched to focusing on jazz when he moved to Chicago where he now leads a jazz combo group. 

When he is not making noise, he can be found performing with his jazz combo, cooking, doing photography, and talking his partner's ear off about music theory and production. He is a graduate of UIC with a BA in Music and a concentration in Jazz Voice. He played for two years in the Alton Symphony Orchestra, worked as instructor for Halpin Music (Alton, IL), has worked as a live sound engineer for Alton Muny Band, served as Director of Music for two years at Christway Church (Godfrey, IL), served as a recording engineer for Calvary Baptist Church for 7 years, and continues to run live sound and occasionally play for/lead worship at LaSalle Street Church in Old Town. His favorite musicians are Bjork, Cage the Elephant, Radiohead, Billie Holliday, and The Flaming Lips.

"My most inspiring music teacher was my first viola instructor, Elizabeth Jankowski. She taught me from a young age that music (especially classical music) doesn't have to be boring and that there is fun and beauty and love in every piece of music so long as you know how to get off the page and into your ears. She was also really funny. There are things I tell my friends and students about that she told me that still make me laugh to this day!"