Piano with Ben Y.

Ben is a highly versatile guitarist and teacher who graduated from the University of Miami Frost School of Music in 2018. Over the 14 years since he started playing guitar, he has performed in almost every musical setting imaginable - grimy dive bars with blues bands, pit orchestras for musicals, sold out theaters across the US with an indie rock band, jazz big bands, intimate songwriter listening rooms, churches, and countless solo performances in an array of venues (including a residency at a hair salon early on in his career). In addition to live performance, Ben has worked extensively as a session guitarist in the studio for a variety of artists and recently produced his first album of original songs, titled In Bloom, which culminated in a headlining release show at the Pour House in downtown Raleigh with a full band accompanying him in January of this year. Though driven to create and perform, he has an equal passion for teaching and began giving private lessons five years ago. He also spent two summers teaching guitar, songwriting, and music theory, as well as directing various ensembles at the Frost Young Musicians Camp at the University of Miami from 2017-2018. Ben’s mission as a teacher is to help each student experience the joy he’s always felt from playing guitar by tailoring the lessons to the student’s interests and providing a solid foundation that is universal to all styles, which includes building facility through technique, ear training, sight reading, and improvisation. While he specializes in rock, blues, funk, and jazz, he has a firm grasp on the underlying musical concepts that are the building blocks of every genre, empowering him to equip any student with the skill set to play the music that expresses their true self. I do not have a standard curriculum because there is no such thing as a standard student. I do have and continue to add to a collection of resources that I have available for students of all levels and disciplines from learning beginner chord progressions, to more advanced rhythm and lead guitar exercises, and creative songwriting, composition, and improvisation assignments. I believe in establishing goals from the first lesson and tailoring the teaching to each individual student to best suit the direction they want to go in, and having FUN during the lesson. Regardless of what style(s) the student is interested in, I understand the fundamentals of guitar playing that are transferable across all genres of music that will equip the student to make the music they dream of making.