“I have been taking lessons with Ben for about 5 years now and cannot recommend him enough! He is an incredible teacher who excels at meeting you where you are in your musical journey. Whether you are a beginner or someone who has played for many years, Ben can help you to set and meet goals that will inspire you to keep playing. He is extremely patient, knowledgeable, and encouraging. I always enjoy our lessons and have grown to greatly appreciate both his mentorship and friendship.”
Ben Finley has been teaching guitar to students of wide-ranging ages, levels, and interests since 2002. He strives to build strong fundamentals and to cultivate creativity via individually catered lessons, while encouraging students to explore composition and improvisation in addition to the study of varied styles.
Ben has taught private lessons, ensembles, and music theory at music schools in North Carolina, St. Lucia, the Bay Area, and in Portland, Oregon, where he is currently a member of Portland Music Collective.
“Ben takes a friendly and patient approach to giving you the tools to be a musician. He is good at gauging his students’ level of knowledge and ability, and his commitment to his students is evident. Ben sees each student as an individual and draws upon their strengths to teach them in ways that work best for them. He customized the music and lessons to my skill while providing challenges to keep the learning process going. Not only did I grow as a guitar player but I actually gained confidence in myself. (I eventually played and sang solo in front of a smaller group of people). I highly recommend Ben, and am envious of his future students who can experience his contagious passion and love of music.”
“Ben’s lessons for my daughter are great! I can see and hear her progress week to week and she is excited to practice and to play. She really enjoys working with him. It’s been a big confidence boost.
As a guitarist myself, I took a handful of lessons from Ben too and found him to be super helpful in filling in some gaps in my mostly self-taught guitar technique and theory. I found him to be patient and happy to work on my goals and meet me where I was at. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend him to guitarists at any level.”
“I’ve been taking lessons with Ben for just under a year now. He is, far and away, my favorite instructor I’ve ever worked with. He’s patient, creative, attentive, and always comes across as genuinely invested in the growth of students. Ben has helped me to prepare for gigs, to audition for new projects, to write my own material, and to be more deliberate and thoughtful about the ways I approach the guitar. I feel like I’ve grown a lot as a musician in the past year, and Ben’s guidance has been central to that progress. Highly recommended, without reservation or hesitation.”
“Ben is an excellent teacher who is highly capable of teaching students at any skill level or musical interest. Over the last few years we’ve worked together on everything from strumming to chords, scales, soloing, improvisation, performing, and more. He has a real knack for taking something that feels out of reach and breaking it down into easy steps. He keeps me feeling challenged while going at my pace. I really look forward to my lessons each week!”
“I studied and played with Ben for years, I only stopped because a baby demanded all of my practice time, but I’d give an arm to get back together.
To respect your time, I’ll just say that Ben is the best guitar teacher I’ve ever played with. He’s truly devoted to the craft of teaching. He takes serious interest in the music you like. He is incredibly patient, he’s gifted at designing a practice routine that will make you better, and he is just an all around great guy.
If you’re thinking of playing with him at all, please just do it. He’s one of my favorite Portlanders, I 100% guarantee he’ll be one of yours, too.”
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