Allen Mathews

We loved working with Allen for our wedding! He was responsive and wonderful to work with and played beautiful music. Thanks Allen!

I feel blessed that Portland has got an expert in bossa nova and Brazilian guitar, which is somewhat of a specific genre that I happen to be almost exclusively interested, as far as guitar goes. Allen can teach one to actually play this genre with artistry and finesse.
I’ve been studying guitar on and off mostly as an amateur for ~15 years and can say that Allen is a talented teacher because he is able to explain and show concepts that take playing to the next level. In our culture, speed and showmanship is what guitar is often associated with. Yet it is a versatile (but not loud) instrument that demands one to pay attention to lots of little subtleties.
Yes, we go over technique (although I already know what to do in that realm), but it’s that je né sais quoi of bossa that Allen can distill, explain and teach. Ask him about it!

Allen has been teaching my son the guitar for about 2 years now, and he is learning to play at an amazing pace! Allen keeps the lessons inventive while passing along a ton of important information about the guitar. My son is learning wonderful technique while also being able to play «popular» songs and sing and play as well. A great teacher!

When I first met Allen I already knew that he was a terrific musician. I quickly learned that he is a terrific teacher too!
He is patient, thoughtful and encouraging and understands how to provide just the right amount of instruction so that I never feel overwhelmed but always feel challenged. He listens so carefully and explains so clearly that, though I am at a very basic level, I feel my skills and knowledge of music have increased greatly in just the few months I have been taking lessons from him.
It is clear that Allen has a real passion for the music and, while issues of technique, theory and appropriate exercises are always critically important aspects of the lessons, musicality and playing for the sheer joy of it are always part of the mix too.
It’s just plain fun to take lessons from Allen… and he’s a really nice guy too! He easily gets five out of five stars from me.