Collection: Andersen, Torben

Torben Andersen (b. 1952) is from Graasten, Denmark.  He began playing the guitar at the age of nine.  In the 1960s he played in a number of rock bands and dance orchestras.  In 1973 he learned to play classical guitar and, shortly after that, began teaching.

From 1975 to 1981 Andersen studied classical guitar under Albert Aigner at Lübeck Music Conservatory.  During this period, he formed a classical guitar duo with John Johannsen from Aarhus. The duo played church concerts and made some recordings with the Danish Radio station P2. At the same time, Andersen continued to play in rock bands and dance orchestras, and taught in music schools in southern Denmark and northern Germany.

Andersen later continued his musical studies with courses taught by Professor Robert Brojer and the south American guitarist and composer Abel Carlevaro. In 1997 he took a course in jazz arrangement, improvisation technique and jazz theory at DMpF under Enrico Rosa (guitar) and Peter Brem (sax/theory).

During his time as a student, Andersen decided to write educational books, and experimented with different models of teaching. Until 2017 he taught classical, electrical and rhythmic guitar at several levels at Sonderborg music school.  He has written three volumes of an educational guitar book called “Den røde tråd” (the red thread) and a book called “Guitarorkesteret” (The guitar orchestra), which are the culmination of 35 years of experience as a guitar teacher.

Andersen says  “the guitar has always given me some great and amazing experiences, such as playing with Pavarotti and Southern Danish Symphony Orchestra at his Farewell Tour in 2005.”