New Lessons Just Added to Peghead Nation for July

Our instructors have released great new lessons, tunes, and techniques in our guitar, mandolin, fiddle, banjo, dobro, ukulele, and bass courses.

By: Dan Gabel

July 1, 2020

NEW LESSONS JUST ADDED TO THE STRING SCHOOL!

Each month, our instructors add new tunes, in-depth technique lessons, and play-along tracks to many of our courses. Check out this month’s additions below, and sign up for any new course with promo code “Play20” and get your first month free!

GUITAR COURSES

Advanced Flatpicking Guitar with Scott Nygaard

Old Home Place | Learn Tony Rice’s classic solo on the legendary 1975 JD Crowe and the New South recording of “Old Home Place,” as well as a solo of Scott’s inspired by Tony’s solo.

Roots of Jazz Guitar with Matt Munisteri

Wabash Blues | “Wabash Blues” was popular with country and early jazz musicians. Matt’s chord melody arrangement is centered in 1930s-style jazz, with some cool contrary motion.

Irish Backup Guitar with Flynn Cohen

Bass Lines in the Key of G | Learn to play bass lines in the key of G with open-position chords for every note of the G major scale, as well as movable shapes for every note of the G major scale.

MANDOLIN COURSES

Bluegrass Mandolin Jam Favorites with Joe K. Walsh

Red Prairie Dawn | The old-time fiddle tune “Red Prairie Dawn” comes from Indiana fiddler Gary Harrison and has become popular in bluegrass jam circles. It has an infectious melody with a lot of space.

Theory for Mandolin and Fiddle with Chad Manning

Scale and Arpeggio Review | Chad gives you an exercise in which you play a variety of scales (major, Mixolydian, Dorian, melodic minor) and their corresponding chord arpeggios in the keys of B, E, A, D, and G.

Intermediate Bluegrass Mandolin with Sharon Gilchrist

Queen of the Earth, Child of the Stars | “Queen of the Earth, Child of the Stars” comes from old-time fiddler Edden Hammons, though it likely originated in Ireland. Sharon recorded it on Harmonic Tone Revealers.

Monroe-Style Mandolin with Mike Compton

Blue Moon of Kentucky | Learn the solo from Bill Monroe’s second recording of “Blue Moon of Kentucky,” which he cut after Elvis Presley had a huge hit with the song. It’s a short solo that features tremolo in triplets.

The Advancing Mandolinist with Joe K. Walsh

Tree King Creek | “Tree King Creek” comes from fiddler Darol Anger, who recorded it on the Psychograss album Like Minds. It’s a fiddle tune in G with some tricky fingering, triplets, and phrases that will probably be new to you.

Melodic Mandolin Tunes with John Reischman

Last Chance | John learned the old-time tune “Last Chance” from a recording of banjo player Hobart Smith. It’s in the key of F, an unusual key for an old-time tune, and has some syncopated phrases.

Irish Mandolin with Marla Fibish

Joe Bane’s Schottische | Barn dances, flings, and schottisches used to be distinct forms, but most traditional Irish musicians now play them with the same rhythmic feel, so “Joe Bane’s Schottische” will be familiar to those who learned the last two barn dances.

Chord Melody Mandolin with Aaron Weinstein

After You’ve Gone | “After You’ve Gone” is one of the most enduring jazz standards. Aaron’s arrangement is based on what a big band might do—alternating single-note melodic lines with chordal hits.

Bluegrass Mandolin Fingerboard Method with Sharon Gilchrist – NEW COURSE!

On and On | Bill Monroe recorded the song “On and On” in the key of A, so that’s where you’ll learn it, using the L shapes, arpeggios, and double stops you’ve used for the keys of G and D.

BANJO COURSES

Bluegrass Banjo with Bill Evans

John Hartford’s “Steam Powered Aereo Plane” | John Hartford’s Hartford’s style is unique, especially in the way he used roll patterns, and “Steam Powered Aereo Plane” is a good example.

Clawhammer Banjo with Evie Ladin

Cindy Gal | “Cindy Gal” comes from Joe and Odell Thompson, who were the primary teachers and inspiration for the Carolina Chocolate Drops, who have carried their repertoire forward.

Contemporary Bluegrass Banjo with Wes Corbett

Rolling Through Chord Changes | Learn to roll through chord progressions with a couple of new rolls and some examples of chord progressions to use them on.

FIDDLE COURSES

Beginning/Intermediate Fiddle with Chad Manning

“Rabbit Hash” Harmony | Learn a harmony part for the fiddle tune “Rabbit Hash,” which you learned in a previous lesson and which comes from the fiddling of Tricia Spencer and Howard Rains.

Bluegrass Fiddle with Chad Manning

Backup for “Tennessee Waltz” | Learn a backup part for “Tennessee Waltz” in the key of D that includes some cool double-stops and chordal moves you can use in backing up other tunes in D.

Old-Time Fiddle with Bruce Molsky

Robinson County | “Robinson County” is a great dance tune recorded in the 1920s by Sharp, Hinman, and Sharp. Bruce’s bowing combines a shuffle with three-note slurs and a few variations that match the melody.

DOBRO COURSES

Dobro Workshop with Mike Witcher

Minor Pentatonic Scale Licks | The minor pentatonic scale can be used to play in minor keys or give a bluesy sound to major keys. Mike shows you some great minor pentatonic licks used by Josh Graves and others.

BASS COURSES

Bass with Zoe Guigueno – NEW COURSE!

Trouble in Mind | The eight-bar blues “Trouble in Mind” is popular with blues, jazz, and folk musicians. You’ll learn a bass line based on the 12/8 shuffle groove from Nina Simone’s live recording at the 1969 Newport Jazz Festival.

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.