August 2024 New Lessons!

New Tunes, Techniques, and Lessons from our Peghead Nation instructors.

By: Dan Gabel

August 1, 2024

Peghead Nation instructors have released hours of new instruction in their courses, and here are the tunes and lessons we’ve just published for August 2024. Join us in any course and get your first month free. Just use promo code Learn24 at checkout!

GUITAR COURSES

Bluegrass Guitar Fingerboard Mastery with Stash Wyslouch

Fisher’s Hornpipe Stash shows you a variation on the classic fiddle tune “Fisher’s Hornpipe” that uses arpeggios on D, G, A, and E chords up and down the neck. If you don’t know “Fisher’s Hornpipe,” we’ve included a version of the basic melody in notation/tab.

Irish Flatpicking Guitar with Flynn Cohen

Tarbolton “Tarbolton” is the first tune in a well-known set of tunes called the Tarbolton Set, which was recorded by legendary Irish fiddler Michael Coleman in 1934. You’ll learn the other tunes in the set in upcoming lessons.

Western Swing Guitar with Matt Munisteri

Arky Travels Again “Arky Travels Again” is guitarist George Barnes’ version of the traditional fiddle tune “Arkansas Traveler.” Barnes recorded it in the key of A, but Matt shows it to you in Bb, because it makes a good medley with “Chicken in the Rough.”

MANDOLIN COURSES

Weekly Mandolin Workout with Ethan Setiawan

In Weekly Mandolin Workout, Ethan Setiawan walks you through a series of workouts that will help you learn the fingerboard, strengthen and increase the dexterity of your fingers, expand your knowledge of chord and scale theory, and improve your picking and fretting techniques. He explores cross-picking, playing scales over chords, perfecting hammer-on and pull-off techniques, and much more, breaking up different mandolin concepts into bite-sized pieces that will help you steadily improve your playing. We are adding new lessons each month, so the course library continues to grow as you build your skills. The high-quality video includes multiple camera angles so you can see close-ups of both hands in action, and you get detailed notation, tab, and chord diagrams for each lesson.

Hammer-Ons and Pull-Offs Hammer-ons and pull-offs are great articulations to add to your playing.. Ethan gives you a number of hammer-on and pull-off exercises and shows you how to use them on the fiddle tunes “Leather Britches” and “Big Sciota.”

Swing and Jazz Mandolin with Joe K. Walsh

C Jam Blues Duke Ellington’s “C Jam Blues” is one of the most popular and simplest of 12-bar blues tunes, consisting of a simple two-note riff repeated twice. You’ll learn the melody and two solos by swing mandolin legends Jethro Burns and Tiny Moore.

Monroe-Style Mandolin with Mike Compton

“Nine Pound Hammer” 1961 Bill Monroe’s 1961 version of “Nine Pound Hammer” is in the key of C, and is the most raucous of his recordings of “Nine Pound Hammer.” Monroe’s solo leans heavily on chord forms for the body of the melody.

Gypsy Jazz Mandolin Essentials with Aaron Weinstein

Perdido The jazz standard “Perdido,” is played frequently at jam sessions in all kinds of jazz. The chord progression includes what is called a “rhythm changes” bridge, which means that it has the same chord changes as the bridge of the song “I Got Rhythm.”

Old-Time Mandolin with John Reischman

Ducks on the Millpond North Carolina fiddler Tommy Jarrell is the usual source for the key-of-D hoedown “Ducks on the Millpond,” but many people play it. John learned “Ducks on the Millpond” from fiddler Rayna Gellert.

The Advancing Mandolinist with Joe K. Walsh

“Chinquapin Hunting” in A This crooked, A-major fiddle tune (not to be confused with the “Chinquapin Hunting” in the key of D) comes from Virginia old-time fiddler Norman Edmonds. Joe learned this version from the playing of Bruce Molsky.

Chord Melody Mandolin with Aaron Weinstein

“Deed I Do” Etude Aaron shows you an etude for “Deed I Do.” He starts by choosing two notes in the D minor chord and adding a rhythmic idea. He does the same for the C7 chord and proceeds from there, repeating the motif through the rest of the chords.

Octave Mandolin with Joe K. Walsh

Skyward “Skyward” was written by pianist Jed Wilson. It’s a simple tune in the key of F and it lays out well on the octave mandolin with a capo at the third fret. It’s also a fun tune to improvise on.

BANJO COURSES

Old-Time Banjo with Bruce Molsky

Sourwood Mountain Bruce’s version of the square dance tune “Sourwood Mountain” comes from the playing of Glen Smith, who recorded it on a fretless banjo in eBEBE tuning, which puts it in the key of E.

FIDDLE COURSES

Western Swing Fiddle with Chad Manning

Chord Comping Chad gives you ideas about how to play backup to western swing songs. He demonstrates some comping options using circle-of-fifths progressions in numerous keys.

Old-Time Fiddle with Bruce Molsky

Liberty “Liberty” is a popular jam session favorite. In this lesson, Bruce teaches you a version influenced by the playing of Surry County, North Carolina, fiddler Benton Flippen.

PLAY-ALONG RHYTHM TRACKS – Available to all subscribers. Guitar accompaniment video, downloadable audio, and chord charts for popular bluegrass, old-time, and roots tunes and songs.