Person Record

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1 of 1977 Alfred Greathouse

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Name

Greathouse, Alfred

Othernames

Al
Alfred Lee

Role

Banjoist

Spouse

Kathryn

Titles & honors

American Banjo Museum Hall of Fame Class of 2016

Sphere Of Activity

Good teaching is as much about passion as it is about reason...It is about caring for your craft, having a passion for it and conveying that passion to everyone, most importantly to your students. In the world of music, a teacher who possesses these qualities and fulfills the promise they hold is a very special person indeed. Alfred Greathouse not only embodied all of the aforementioned virtues, but also spent a lifetime selflessly sharing them with others.

Born in Weiser, Idaho in 1914, Alfred Greathouse exhibited his passion for music while still in his teens, learning to play the accordion and the guitar as well as the banjo. A serious musical student, Greathouse devoted countless hours to both practice as well as the transcription of popular songs of the day into banjo solos. So accomplished became Greathouse that his mentor and the owner of a Portland music store, Ray Wilkinson, soon offered him a job as a teacher of the banjo and the accordion.

Greathouse worked tirelessly in Wilkinson's employ, meeting both his wife, Kathryn, as well as his future business and publishing partner, Elliot Sweetland in the process. As the U.S. prepared for WWII, Greathouse learned carpentry by building barracks and later working as a welder in the shipyards in Vancouver, Washington. During the war Al served in the Navy aboard the USS Ozark, often playing his accordion for wounded soldiers who were being transported aboard the ship.

Following the war, Greathouse returned to Portland to build a home and life for his growing family. Having experienced a less than ideal childhood with an abusive, alcoholic father, Greathouse devoted his personal life to being a loving dad and positive role model to his three sons, Mark, Gordon and Lowell. Professionally he and Elliot Sweetland opened the Alfred-Elliot Accordion Center in downtown Portland. Although the accordion had taken the nation's youth by storm in Post WWII America, Greathouse was poised to embark on the stringed instrument journey, which would define his legacy as an educator.

In 1948, Alfred Greathouse wrote the first of dozens of instructional publications which would bear his name. Published by Belwin, The Active Hawaiian Guitar method was just one of many folio's for the popular instrument which Greathouse authored. Becoming his own publisher, Greathouse tediously engraved, printed and distributed numerous guitar and banjo instructional books which he had written specifically to accommodate the demand for many different playing styles. It was, however, his later association with the Hansen Publishing Company which would inextricably connect the name of Alfred Greathouse with the popular musical instruction of countless aspiring banjo and guitar players around the world.

With such a large body of work to his credit, it would be difficult to summarize the prolific career of Alfred Greathouse with a single publication. That said, the 1970 release of The Banjo Players Bible represents a significant milestone in both the quality as well as the availability of self-teaching plectrum banjo methods. Refining and reintroducing learning practices in a manner not seen in decades, Greathouse thoughtfully crafted musical instruction, banjo technique and familiar songs into a learning tool which four-string banjo legend, Perry Bechtel, often referred to as "the best plectrum banjo instruction book ever published."

Throughout the remainder of his life, Alfred Greathouse continued to teach, preferring students with a diversity of age and skill levels; enjoying the beginner as well as the most gifted students - and particularly shining with those who were discouraged. When he passed away in July of 1994, Alfred Greathouse left behind not only a beloved wife of 55 years, but also a musical legacy which spanned half a century and introduced the joy of music to countless others. Johnny Baier, American Banjo Museum