During the early 1960s he began as a songwriter and composed popular and jazz songs but was unsuccessful in getting them released by record companies.
He turned his attention to studying music in more depth at Rutgers University, taking composition lessons with Robert Nagel and George Walker, the first Afro-American composer to receive the Pulitzer Prize for Music. He studied piano with Chester Fanning Smith and choral conducting with Alfred Mann.
In 1980, he had a consultation session with Aaron Copland who complimented him on several of his choral settings.
Since 1985, Mr. Hall has been a member of ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers) and has composed and arranged over 100 pieces of music including piano works, chamber music, songs and choral music.
He is also a published poet and some of his songs and hymns are based on his own poems, such as "six haiku songs," Op. 3.
One of his compositions, "Creator God, We Give You Thanks," won a choral competition prize in 1993. More recently, he arranged this piece as "Hymn to the Environment." More information about this environmental hymn is available at PineTree Music.
For several anniversary celebrations of the Old Stoughton Musical Society, the oldest choral society in the USA, Roger composed two songs: "Peace" and "Dedication."
Also, he composed a special song in Russian and English:
"My dareem vam nashee pyesnee" (We give you a gift of our songs).
It was written for the Sharing A New Song Chorus from Boston to perform on their tour to Moscow, Yaroslavl, and Novgorod in Russia in 1988. His song opened the historic concert when for the first time a combined Russian and American chorus sang together in Yaroslavl.