New Lessons for December 2024

Peghead Nation instructors have hours worth of new lessons, tunes, and techniques for you!

By: Dan Gabel

December 5, 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 December 2024. Join us in any course and get your first month free. Just use promo code Learn24 at checkout!

GUITAR COURSES

Contemporary Flatpicking Guitar with Grant Gordy – NEW COURSE!

Comping on a Blues Grant goes through the chords to the 12-bar blues “Jumpin’ with Symphony Sid” that you learned last month and gives you rhythmic ideas for accompaniment (“comping”), including using upbeats and playing the “Charleston” rhythm.

Irish Flatpicking Guitar with Flynn Cohen

Michael Coleman’s Hop Jig Flynn’s version of “Michael Coleman’s Hop Jig” comes from Sligo fiddler Michael Gorman. Hop jigs are in 9/8, the same time signature as slip jigs, but they’re usually played a little faster than slip jigs, and have more of a quarter-eighth feel.

Western Swing Guitar with Matt Munisteri

It’s All Your Fault In this lesson, you’ll learn Cindy Walker’s “It’s All Your Fault” in the key of Eb, with a two-part harmony part from Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys’ 1941 recording as well as a solo by Chet Atkins from Wade Ray’s 1953 recording.

MANDOLIN COURSES

Intermediate Bluegrass Mandolin with Sharon Gilchrist

Tennessee Politics The fiddle tune “Tennessee Politics” was written by John Hartford. It has become popular at jam sessions lately and is included in the book John Hartford’s Mammoth Collection of Fiddle Tunes.

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.

Chord Scales Ethan gives you examples of using chord scales to play over specific chords in specific keys. You learn the chord scales for the I, IV, V chords in the key of G as well as the C7, G7, and Am7 chords, and how to “voice-lead” lines through the chords.

Swing and Jazz Mandolin with Joe K. Walsh

After You’ve Gone There have been more than 700 recordings of the popular standard “After You’ve Gone” since it was written in 1918. You’ll learn Benny Goodman’s version of the melody as well as a solo by legendary tenor saxophonist Lester Young.

Monroe-Style Mandolin with Mike Compton

Bugle Call Rag Bill Monroe’s 1961 recording of the banjo instrumental “Bugle Call Rag” features two distinctly different eight-bar solos. The first has a lot of familiar arpeggiated phrases over chord changes, while the second is on the zany side.

Gypsy Jazz Mandolin Essentials with Aaron Weinstein

If I Had You “If I Had You” was written in 1928 by two English songwriters and quickly became a jazz standard, with recordings by Benny Goodman, Nat King Cole, Django Reinhardt, and hundreds of others.

Old-Time Mandolin with John Reischman

The Storms Are on the Ocean “The Storms Are on the Ocean” is a beautiful Carter Family song in 3/4 time. You’ll learn to embellish the basic melody in the key of G with double-stops, slides, and hammer-ons mostly in closed positions.

The Advancing Mandolinist with Joe K. Walsh

“I’m On My Way Back to the Old Home” Ronnie McCoury Solo Ronnie McCoury’s great solo on “I’m On My Way Back to the Old Home” is mostly played in closed position so the ideas and vocabulary he uses can be transferred to other keys.

Chord Melody Mandolin with Aaron Weinstein

“I Can’t Give You Anything But Love” Etude Aaron shows you an etude for “I Can’t Give You Anything But Love” that uses single-note melody lines accompanied by chordal “hits.” He shows you how to finger the single-note lines so you’re ready for the chord voicings.

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

Folk and Bluegrass Songs with Lauren Rioux

Learn to craft your own fiddle solos to folk and bluegrass songs by creating melodic and rhythmic interest using pickups, double stops, licks, and fills. You’ll work through each song in multiple keys so you can become comfortable with transposition on the fly, a crucial component for successful jamming.

Sitting on Top of the World There are many versions of “Sitting on Top of the World” in folk, blues, jazz, Texas swing, and bluegrass styles. Lauren keeps it simple with a I, IV, V progression and gives you ideas for bluesy licks, melodic variations, and syncopation in the keys of D, G, C, and A.

Western Swing Fiddle with Chad Manning

Bubbles in My Beer “Bubbles in My Beer” was first recorded by Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys in 1947. You’ll learn the melody as well as Johnny Gimble’s fiddle backup to a verse of the vocal from the recording of “Bubbles in My Beer” on For the Last Time.

Old-Time Fiddle with Bruce Molsky

Snake Chapman’s Tune “Snake Chapman’s Tune” comes from Eastern Kentucky fiddler Owen “Snake” Chapman. It’s a crooked tune in the key of D, played in ADAD tuning, and the B part can be played two octaves.

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.