Ben McCartney – Guitar
Ben McCartney wears the many hats of a full time musician. As Director of Guitar Studies at Pima Community College, Ben serves as the sole instructor for the college’s music majors in guitar performance. Outside of Pima College, he boasts a thriving and energized private studio at Southwest Guitar Studio, where he coaches students of all ages in various styles of guitar. In addition to his busy teaching schedule, he performs regularly throughout the Southwest in various ensembles, bands, and as a soloist. In 2003, as a member of Dutsi Spoon, he participated in the “Road to Somewhere” battle of the bands, in which the band prevailed over 91 other entrants, taking first prize. From 2004-2008 Ben performed over 500 shows in multiple cities with Tucson’s best known 80′s cover band, The Mockingbirds. Currently, he performs throughout Tucson in a guitar and saxophone duo called Elevation. The duo recently released a CD of his original compositions titled “Transition.” Ben’s other recording projects have taken him to several of the best known studios in Tucson for sessions with various artists, including Robert Shaw’s “Velvet Pelvis” rockabilly project. As a forward thinker in guitar pedagogy, Ben is currently working on several publications, including a pedagogical approach to arranging for solo guitar, and a complete course study for guitar that covers various styles for electric and classical guitar. The method covers technique, harmony, improvisation, and music theory.
Ben’s academic accreditation includes a B.M. and M.M. in guitar performance. He is also a winner of several prizes in international solo guitar competitions such as the Ralph Stevens Solo Guitar Competition, the Norman Sholin Solo Guitar Competition, and the Walnut Valley Solo Fingerstyle Competition (finalist). As an active concert artist, he has performed throughout the western hemisphere, covering the Continental US, Brazil, Venezuela, Cuba, and Central Europe. Ben has taught guitar at three major Universities including SUNY Fredonia, the University of Akron, and the University of Arizona. In 1995 Ben traveled to Caracas to study with one of Venezuela’s national treasures, Luis Zea. In addition, he has studied in dozens of master classes with many of the top names in the business, including Christopher Parkening, David Russell, John Williams, Elliot Fisk, Sergio Assad, and David Tanenbaum.
Ben’s students are consistently acclaimed for their own endeavors and have gone on to win national competitions themselves. Most recently, three of his students participated as finalists in the John Lennon Educational Tour Bus song writing competition, and two of them, known as Mirror Image, took first prize. His students are featured artists in major festivals and performance series, are winning battle of the bands, and recording in major studios.