Ben was born in 1983, and grew up in Gothenburg on the west coast of Sweden. He started playing piano at age 10 and guitar at the age of 12, but it was after seeing Jimi Hendrix light his guitar on fire in a TV documentary at age 13 that he started practicing seriously, proceeding to learn virtually every Hendrix song under the sun. Though mostly self-taught, Ben took private lessons from several Swedish guitar teachers while in his teens, and received a scholarship for his overall musical skills.
After
gigging around Gothenburg in various bands, including a Dream Theater cover band, Ben moved across the pond to Los Angeles to study at Musicians Institute. While there, he honed his skills with Russ Bolton, Jean-Marc Belkadi, Takeshi Akimoto, along with fusion and blues master Scott Henderson and top session player Carl Verheyen.
While mostly a metal player in the vein of Hendrix, John Petrucci, Jimmy Page, Yngwie Malmsteen and the like, Ben has listened to and absorbed the influence of jazz and country
players like George Benson, Pat Metheny, Mike Stern, Chet Atkins, and Brent Mason.
He also ventures into funk, blues, country/bluesgrass, and acoustic fingerpicking.
Now back in Sweden, Ben is busy composing songs (mostly acoustic instrumentals), teaching guitar privately, and playing live and in the studio.
For more personal information about Ben, go to the "More Instructor Info" tab. You can also post any questions or comments directly to him in his personal area of the Guitar Tricks forum.