New Lessons, Tunes and Techniques for April 2025
Peghead Nation instructors have hours worth of new lessons, tunes, and techniques for you!
Peghead Nation instructors have released hours of new instruction in their courses, and here are the tunes and lessons we’ve just published for April 2025. Join us in any course and get your first month free. Just use promo code Learn25 at checkout!
GUITAR COURSES
Contemporary Flatpicking Guitar with Grant Gordy
The High Road: Tim O’Brien’s “The High Road” has an intriguing chord progression and a great melody. Tim first recorded it as a song with lyrics, but instrumental versions such as the one Grant teaches here have made it a popular jam tune.
Irish Flatpicking Guitar with Flynn Cohen
The Southwest Wind: This great D Mixolydian jig comes from Co. Clare. Within the context of learning the melody, Flynn dissects some of the finer points of right- and left-hand ornamentation that give the tune its distinctive lift and character.
Western Swing Guitar with Matt Munisteri
“Buffalo Gals” Single-String Style: “Buffalo Gals” is an old American song that has been recorded by a wide variety of jazz, folk, and other artists. Matt shows you his single-string “hot-guitar” style version of “Buffalo Gals,” inspired by George Barnes.
MANDOLIN COURSES
Intermediate Bluegrass Mandolin with Sharon Gilchrist
Nine Pound Hammer: With its roots in late 19th-century work songs, “Nine Pound Hammer” is a staple of roots repertories, including bluegrass. Sharon teaches you a basic version in the key of A, and then adds embellishments and variations.
Weekly Mandolin Workout with Ethan Setiawan
Scale Patterns from Tunes: For this month’s collection of workouts, Ethan constructed a number of scale patterns using easy fragments—or “cells”—from familiar fiddle tunes. The resulting exercises will build finger dexterity and help open doors for improvisation.
Swing and Jazz Mandolin with Joe K. Walsh
“I’ll See You in My Dreams” Django Reinhardt Solo: Joe teaches the first half of Django Reinhardt’s brilliant 1939 solo on “I’ll See You in My Dreams.” Along the way, he talks about adapting guitar lines to the mandolin and provides tips for technique.
Monroe-Style Mandolin with Mike Compton
Cheap Love Affair: Bill Monroe’s solo on “Cheap Love Affair” covers just half of a verse, and starts with a series of staccato, downstroke 1/8th-note triplets played over the chord changes, an approach reminiscent of black country-blues stylings.
Gypsy Jazz Mandolin Essentials with Aaron Weinstein
In a Mellotone: Duke Ellington penned “In a Mellotone” with lyricist Milt Gabler in 1939. Now a jazz standard, “Mellotone” has been recorded by hundreds of artists. Aaron teaches the chord progression and a solo in the key of Ab.
Old-Time Mandolin with John Reischman
Shady Grove: The folk song “Shady Grove” is most often played in a minor key. But in this lesson John shows you Kilby Snow’s version of “Shady Grove” in A major. He also teaches it in G, F, and finally in D. with the high E strings dropped down to D.
The Advancing Mandolinist with Joe K. Walsh
Muddy Creek: Joe learned the key-of-D Missouri fiddle tune “Muddy Creek” from a recording by Peter Ostroushko and Norman Blake. You’ll learn the melody as played by Peter on mandolin, plus a harmony part inspired by Norman’s mandola work.
Chord Melody Mandolin with Aaron Weinstein
“I Got Rhythm” Etude: Aaron’s etude on George Gershwin’s “I Got Rhythm” in the key of Bb can be played as a mellow, standalone piece, or for playing “rhythm changes,” an improvisation framework based on the title song’s chord progression.
Octave Mandolin with Joe K. Walsh
Milkweed Star: “Milkweed Star” is a beautiful, moody original that comes from Joe’s latest album. In this lesson, you’ll learn how to voice the arpeggios to capitalize on the open-string sonority of the octave mandolin.
FIDDLE COURSES
Folk and Bluegrass Songs with Lauren Rioux
Will the Circle Be Unbroken? The Carter Family and the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band recorded influential versions of “Will the Circle Be Unbroken?” You’ll learn to play the song in the keys of A and D this month. Next month you’ll learn in G and C.
Old-Time Fiddle with Bruce Molsky
Luther Strong’s “Ways of the World”: Luther Strong’s “Ways of the World” is in the key of D, and played in the “cross tuning” (scordatura) of DDAE, with the G string tuned down an octave below the adjacent D string. The tune is in AAB form.
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.
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