Benjamin Perry offers lessons in violin, viola, cello and double bass. Benjamin just recently moved to Honolulu after 10 years of teaching around the world, first at the British School of Bahrain, then Umoja Music School, a US non-profit in Tanzania, and in between, teaching privately in Spain and back in the UK where he is originally from. Benjamin is a classically trained musician, who majored in classical violin performance at the University of Southampton, UK. He was born and grew up in Belgium, learning to play violin with the Suzuki Method, but also learning any kind of music he got his hands on outside of class, from Irish folk music through his Irish grandmother, gypsy jazz from fellow Belgian born Django Reinhardt, to the string parts in the background of heavy metal songs.

While at university, he got involved in the local music scene, playing in folk bands, jazz bands, heavy rock bands, and soon noticed how friends from his classical university course were usually very shy and unwilling to perform on stage and branch out from their usual repertoire. He realized that a huge part of music was missing from the traditional classical violin class he and most of his university friends had grown up with. This was a belief that any music can be good music, and even if you are a total beginner, you have the ability to get up on stage and perform either as an individual or in a group.

From there, Benjamin started developing a teaching style that, while firmly rooted in the solid foundations that classical music and theory allow you to build upon, prioritizes the student’s vision for what kind of musician they aspire to be. He believes that versatility and having a good general knowledge of every aspect of music produces more than just well trained performers, it gives students the tools they need to become truly great musicians. With his time living and working in the Middle East and Africa, he can offer his students a unique view into world music and culture that extends beyond traditional western styles. He has years of experience teaching the Suzuki Method, the UK’s Royal School of Music exams, but also how to improvise, how to listen to your friend playing their favorite song and play along with them, how to create music with whatever instruments and people are around you.

Learning to play music is about more than just attaining proficiency on an instrument. It’s about building self-esteem, a strong work ethic, learning to effectively set and achieve goals. As a teacher, Benjamin is always making an effort to be a positive and motivational force in each of his students’ lives. He strongly believes it is his responsibility to learn as much as he can about every student that comes his way, in order to tailor his classes for individual needs. He seeks not only to teach his students to read and play classical music, but to encourage them to be all round good musicians, which involves training their ear and inviting them to bring what excites them about music to their lessons.