Bent Marinóson

Bent Marinósson is an Icelandic guitarist, music educator, and photographer based in Reykjavík. He picked up the guitar at age 12, and music quickly became, in his own words, his "first love." By 19 he was already teaching, recruited by his cousin Björn Thoroddsen to join the staff of a guitar school Björn ran with others — a family connection that runs deep in Icelandic blues circles. Guitar instruction has been a constant thread in Bent's career. Around 2004 he began experimenting with online lessons; by 2012 the first version went live. When the COVID-19 lockdowns hit in 2020, he threw himself into the project full-force, building Gítarskólinn (gitarskolinn.is) — Iceland's premier online guitar school — and producing a slate of structured courses that have since helped hundreds of students of all ages pick up the instrument or rediscover it after years away. Gítarskólinn offers live group courses in partnership with Ferðafélag Íslands (the Iceland Travel Association), a subscription-based workshop series called Tónsmiðjan for adult players who want to keep progressing, self-paced online courses covering everything from fretboard fundamentals to barre chords and ukulele basics, and private one-on-one lessons — both in person and online. Community jam sessions, including open-air gatherings in Heiðmörk, are a regular feature. Beyond teaching, Bent is an accomplished photographer whose work appears on his personal site bentmarinos.is. He has appeared on Icelandic radio (Bylgjan, with Þór Breiðfjörð) and television (Stöð 2), and maintains an active presence on social media.