New Lessons for November 2024

New Tunes, Techniques, and Lessons from Peghead Nation instructors!

By: Dan Gabel

November 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 November 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!

Upbeats and “Jumpin’ with Symphony Sid” Grant uses the syncopated melody of the swing blues tune “Jumpin’ with Symphony Sid” as an alternate picking exercise so you can get a feel for playing upstrokes on the upbeats.

Irish Flatpicking Guitar with Flynn Cohen

The Maids of Mitchelstown “The Maids of Mitchelstown” is a slow reel in the key of D minor that was made popular by the Bothy Band’s 1977 recording. The A part is four bars long, and is repeated, while the B part is eight bars long but is not repeated.

Western Swing Guitar with Matt Munisteri

It Makes No Difference Now Learn some of the things that Junior Barnard played on a Bob Wills recording of “It Makes No Difference Now.” The solo is a great example of combining melodic ideas with more bluesy things on country songs.

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.

Harp Scales Using harp scales is a way to make the mandolin sound like a harp by using as many open strings as possible. You’ll learn to play harp scales in the key of G and how to use the harp-scale technique to play the traditional tune “Elk River Blues.”

Swing and Jazz Mandolin with Joe K. Walsh

Johnny Gimble Blues Solo Johnny Gimble is not only a legendary western swing fiddle player, he’s also one of the foremost practitioners of jazz and swing mandolin. In this lesson, you’ll learn his solo on a slow blues from an Austin City Limits concert.

Monroe-Style Mandolin with Mike Compton

John Hardy The old folk song “John Hardy” was the first of three instrumentals Bill Monroe recorded on December 4, 1961. There are two solos, both of which have similar elements, and there’s a slight Latin feel to Bill’s rendition.

Gypsy Jazz Mandolin Essentials with Aaron Weinstein

Exactly Like You “Exactly Like You” is one of the most played jazz and swing standards, especially by Hot Club–style groups and singers. There are memorable recorded versions by Benny Goodman, Django Reinhardt, Ella Fitzgerald, and many others.

Old-Time Mandolin with John Reischman

Old Greasy Coat “Old Greasy Coat” comes from fiddler Edden Hammons and the Hammons Family of West Virginia. It’s in the key of A and uses both G naturals and G sharps at times. The second part has some interesting syncopation and triplets.

The Advancing Mandolinist with Joe K. Walsh

Hartford’s Real The instrumental “Hartford’s Real” was written by David Grisman and Sam Bush in honor of their good friend John Hartford. “Hartford’s Real” is a fiddle tune in the key of G with a form of AABA, where the parts are all 16 bars long.

Chord Melody Mandolin with Aaron Weinstein

“All of Me” Etude In this lesson, Aaron shows you an etude for “All of Me,” which you can use as a solo when it comes time for you to play a solo. The etude combines the chords of “All of Me” with some single-note lines and rhythmic patterns.

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.

Bury Me Beneath the Willow The melody of “Bury Me Beneath the Willow” has a lot of long, flowing notes, leaving plenty of room for fills and variations. Lauren’s solo ideas for this song include blue notes and melodic/rhythmic variations.

Western Swing Fiddle with Chad Manning

Heartaches by the Number The Harlan Howard song “Heartaches by the Number” was first recorded by Ray Price in 1959. In this lesson, you’ll learn the melody with double stops inspired by the steel guitar solo on Ray Price’s recording.

Old-Time Fiddle with Bruce Molsky

Paddy, Won’t You Drink Some Good Old Cider? “Paddy, Won’t You Drink Some Good Old Cider?” was recorded in the 1930s by the Jimmy Johnson String Band. It’s a hoedown in the key of D, and the bowing follows the rhythm of the melody.

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.