Stone was ed­u­cat­ed at the Bris­tol Ci­ty School (Queen Eliz­a­beth's Hos­pi­tal). He dis­played an en­thu­si­asm for mu­sic in ear­ly life, stu­dy­ing un­der John Da­vid Corfe, or­gan­ist of Bris­tol Cat­hed­ral, and, af­ter a brief ex­per­ience with com­mer­cial life at Messrs Tho­mas' Bris­tol soap works, made mu­sic his pro­fess­ion. In 1858, at age 18, he be­came or­gani­st of St Paul's Church, Clif­ton, and was suc­cess­ivel­y or­gan­ist at Ar­ley Cha­pel (1862); High­bu­ry Cha­pel (1863-9); St Paul's again (1869-75); Christ Church, Clif­ton (1875-8); and by may­or­al ap­point­ment, of the may­or's cha­pel (St. Mark, Bris­tol) (1873-8).

In 1863 he ed­it­ed, with Fred Mor­gan, the Bris­tol Tune Book, with 342 hymn tunes and chants, a few writ­ten by him­self. The book at once gained pop­u­lar fa­vour, chief­ly among non­con­form­ists. In a third ed­i­tion, edited by El­li­ot But­ton, the num­ber of tunes reached 900. Its sales ex­ceeded 750,000 in England and the col­o­nies. Pos­si­bly no other hymn-tune book ex­cept Hymns An­cient and Mo­dern has had more in­flu­ence on con­gre­ga­tion­al sing­ing. In 1863-4 Stone adopt­ed the ton­ic sol-fa syst­em for pur­pos­es of teach­ing, though he did not whol­ly aban­don the old no­ta­tion. His tu­tor­i­al ap­point­ments in­clud­ed that of mas­ter of sing­ing at Queen Eliz­a­beth's Hos­pi­tal (1867-76), the Bris­tol Red Maids School (1867-78), and at the Blind Asy­lum (1876-8). He con­duct­ed the Bris­tol Or­phe­us Glee So­ci­e­ty (found­ed in 1844) from 1876 till his death, and un­der his rule, the so­ci­ety flour­ished. Stone or­gan­ised and trained a male-voice choir in 1872 to com­pete at the na­tion­al mu­sic meet­ings which start­ed that year at the Crys­tal Pal­ace. He won the prize that year, and hon­our­a­ble men­tion the next year. In 1873, he or­gan­ised the first Bris­tol mu­sic fes­tiv­al. He was sec­re­ta­ry, chose and trained the fes­tiv­al choir of 300 voic­es, and con­duct­ed the pre­lim­in­a­ry con­certs and in­ter­me­di­ate Fes­tiv­al So­ci­e­ty con­certs un­til his death. The chor­us sing­ing won high praise from cri­tics, and the choir be­came a perm­a­nent in­sti­tu­tion.

For prep­a­ra­to­ry sing­ing class­es, Stone ed­it­ed Pro­gres­sive Ex­er­cis­es for El­e­ment­ary and Ad­vanced Mixed Choirs, which is still in use. He wrote a ser­ies of papers, Hints for El­e­ment­ary Teach­ing, in which he strong­ly ad­vo­cat­ed the ton­ic sol-fa sys­tem. For a con­tem­plat­ed work on har­mon­y (never com­plet­ed) he wrote The Com­mon Sense of the Min­or Scale, which was pub­lished in the Ton­ic Sol-fa Re­port­er, Au­gust 1878. He ad­jud­i­cated at the Welsh Eisteddfodau, and trav­eled in Ger­ma­ny with Mr. J. S. Cur­wen for the pur­poses of his pro­fess­ion. His last pub­lic ap­pear­ance was at a fes­tiv­al con­cert, when he con­duct­ed Roeck­el's Ode in Mem­or­y of Ti­tiens in No­vem­ber 1877.

Stone was ed­u­cat­ed at the Bris­tol Ci­ty School (Queen Eliz­a­beth's Hos­pi­tal). He dis­played an en­thu­si­asm for mu­sic in ear­ly life, stu­dy­ing un­der John Da­vid Corfe, or­gan­ist of Bris­tol Cat­hed­ral, and, af­ter a brief ex­per­ience with com­mer­cial life at Messrs Tho­mas' Bris­tol soap works, made mu­sic his pro­fess­ion. In 1858, at age 18, he be­came or­gani­st of St Paul's Church, Clif­ton, and was suc­cess­ivel­y or­gan­ist at Ar­ley Cha­pel (1862); High­bu­ry Cha­pel (1863-9); St Paul's again (1869-75); Christ Church, Clif­ton (1875-8); and by may­or­al ap­point­ment, of the may­or's cha­pel (St. Mark, Bris­tol) (1873-8).

In 1863 he ed­it­ed, with Fred Mor­gan, the Bris­tol Tune Book, with 342 hymn tunes and chants, a few writ­ten by him­self. The book at once gained pop­u­lar fa­vour, chief­ly among non­con­form­ists. In a third ed­i­tion, edited by El­li­ot But­ton, the num­ber of tunes reached 900. Its sales ex­ceeded 750,000 in England and the col­o­nies. Pos­si­bly no other hymn-tune book ex­cept Hymns An­cient and Mo­dern has had more in­flu­ence on con­gre­ga­tion­al sing­ing. In 1863-4 Stone adopt­ed the ton­ic sol-fa syst­em for pur­pos­es of teach­ing, though he did not whol­ly aban­don the old no­ta­tion. His tu­tor­i­al ap­point­ments in­clud­ed that of mas­ter of sing­ing at Queen Eliz­a­beth's Hos­pi­tal (1867-76), the Bris­tol Red Maids School (1867-78), and at the Blind Asy­lum (1876-8). He con­duct­ed the Bris­tol Or­phe­us Glee So­ci­e­ty (found­ed in 1844) from 1876 till his death, and un­der his rule, the so­ci­ety flour­ished. Stone or­gan­ised and trained a male-voice choir in 1872 to com­pete at the na­tion­al mu­sic meet­ings which start­ed that year at the Crys­tal Pal­ace. He won the prize that year, and hon­our­a­ble men­tion the next year. In 1873, he or­gan­ised the first Bris­tol mu­sic fes­tiv­al. He was sec­re­ta­ry, chose and trained the fes­tiv­al choir of 300 voic­es, and con­duct­ed the pre­lim­in­a­ry con­certs and in­ter­me­di­ate Fes­tiv­al So­ci­e­ty con­certs un­til his death. The chor­us sing­ing won high praise from cri­tics, and the choir be­came a perm­a­nent in­sti­tu­tion.

For prep­a­ra­to­ry sing­ing class­es, Stone ed­it­ed Pro­gres­sive Ex­er­cis­es for El­e­ment­ary and Ad­vanced Mixed Choirs, which is still in use. He wrote a ser­ies of papers, Hints for El­e­ment­ary Teach­ing, in which he strong­ly ad­vo­cat­ed the ton­ic sol-fa sys­tem. For a con­tem­plat­ed work on har­mon­y (never com­plet­ed) he wrote The Com­mon Sense of the Min­or Scale, which was pub­lished in the Ton­ic Sol-fa Re­port­er, Au­gust 1878. He ad­jud­i­cated at the Welsh Eisteddfodau, and trav­eled in Ger­ma­ny with Mr. J. S. Cur­wen for the pur­poses of his pro­fess­ion. His last pub­lic ap­pear­ance was at a fes­tiv­al con­cert, when he con­duct­ed Roeck­el's Ode in Mem­or­y of Ti­tiens in No­vem­ber 1877.