“Ben Hassenger has been teaching Ukulele Classes at the Prime Time Senior Program located at the Hannah Community Center going on four years now. His upbeat, engaging personality makes him one of our more popular instructors and his classes reflect this as well – they are always full! We feel very lucky to have someone of his incredible knowledge and skill level teacher here. His delightful sense of humor just adds to the culture of his class.”
Kelly Arndt (Director, Prime Time Senior Center)
“Ben’s ukulele classes continue to be among our most popular courses. As a teacher, he is the perfect balance of professional and fun. His enthusiasm is infectious. It’s easy to see why his students become hooked on the uke so quickly . . . and then keep coming back for more!”
Lisa Richey (Program Planner, Prime Time Senior Center)
“We had ukulele players of all levels in attendance at our event and Ben’s Become One with the Strum and the Fantastic Four Chords appealed to everyone. Ben was an easy-going teacher whose humour and energy put people at ease and kept them interested. The nicely paced workshop managed to cover lots of material by using a variety of great, familiar songs and just the right amount of repetition that people were able to quickly grasp the concept and begin strumming and singing along. It was a lot of fun. We were very happy to have had Ben be a part of our event and really appreciated all of the advice he gave us to help get our first-ever London Ontario Ukulele Day off the ground. Thanks, Ben!”
Jen Manley and Val Voth, Coordinators for London Ontario Ukulele Day 2015
“Ben Hassenger has a wealth of instructional skills, paired with his ever-joyful and caring personality. He makes learning fun, meaningful, and personally relevant for students of all ages, including pre-school through post-retirement. As an experienced educator, tutor and professional musician; Ben is capable of differentiating the instructional content and is keenly aware that the proper pacing of content delivery is critical to optimal outcomes for learners with various needs. He has a natural capacity to accommodate most any audience. Our family will always be grateful for all that Ben Hassenger has personally done for us. We always leave our instructional sessions and group strums with smiles on our faces. We just cannot seem to get enough!”
Shari-Ballard Krishnan, Michigan
“At the London Ontario Ukulele Days event I was fortunate to have the opportunity to attend a workshop on strumming patterns for the ukulele presented by Ben Hassenger. The session was well-thoughtout with lots of opportunity to play together and to learn the strumming patterns. As a beginner player I found it very beneficial to see how different patterns on the same chord progression could completely change the feel and mood and how the same chords could be used to make so many different songs just by changing the strum pattern. I highly recommend Ben’s tutorials for learning how to play with confidence and enjoy making your own music.”
Mary-Lou VanBerkel, Canada
“Ben’s workshops have inspired me to improve not only my technical skill but also my musicality. He masterfully distills music theory into bite-sized pieces wrapped in a fun, simple classroom setting. His passion for teaching is infectious. He creates a safe space, like the Lansing Area Ukulele Group monthly strums, for students like me to play with like-minded ukers of all ages and abilities. Ben’s workshops are professional, organized and accessible. He always brings something new to the table; new songs, new strumming patterns, and new classes with guest instructors from the national circuit. At
Mighty Uke Day, I added Mighty 6th chords, island strum and solo melodies to my repertoire. Interlochen’s Uketoberfest taught me how to add harmonica to song! If you are searching for an instructor that will not only teach the ukulele but also open the door to new musical adventures, I highly recommend Ben Hassenger as your guide.”
Jennifer Rangel, Lansing, Michigan