New Tunes, Techniques, and Lessons Added for October

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

By: Dan Gabel

October 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

Bury Me Beneath the Willow | Learn the instrumental version of the Carter Family song “Bury Me Beneath the Willow” that Scott recorded on his album No Hurry, both the basic crosspicked arrangement and his improvised solo.

Roots of Jazz Guitar with Matt Munisteri

Jeannine (I Dream of Lilac Time) | “Jeannine (I Dream of Lilac Time)” was recorded by Eddie Lang in 1928 in a duo with pianist Frank Signorelli. In this lesson, you’ll earn Matt’s solo guitar arrangement of the tune.

Irish Backup Guitar with Flynn Cohen

Movable Shapes in DADGAD | Learn how to play a major scale using movable chords in DADGAD tuning with shapes similar to the ones you learned in dropped-D tuning. You’ll also learn shapes using just the top four strings.

MANDOLIN COURSES

Bluegrass Mandolin Jam Favorites with Joe K. Walsh

Blackberry Blossom | “Blackberry Blossom” is one of the iconic bluegrass jam tunes. Joe’s version was influenced by the way Tony Rice and David Grisman played the tune on Tony Rice’s Manzanita recording.

Theory for Mandolin and Fiddle with Chad Manning

“All of Me” Arpeggios | Chad shows you arpeggios for the chords of the jazz standard “All of Me” and gives you an arpeggio exercise using the whole progression. He also talks about improvising using the arpeggios for each chord.

Intermediate Bluegrass Mandolin with Sharon Gilchrist

“Half Past Four” Harmony | In this lesson, you’ll learn the harmony part for the old-time tune “Half Past Four” that Sharon played on Harmonic Tone Revealers with mandolinist John Reischman playing the melody.

Monroe-Style Mandolin with Mike Compton

You’ll Find Her Name Written There | Learn the half solo Bill Monroe played on his 1954 recording of “You’ll Find Her Name Written There,” which consists of tremolo double stops in the key of G and a couple of typical Monroe single-note licks.

The Advancing Mandolinist with Joe K. Walsh

Birdland Breakdown | Learn mandolinist John Reischman’s “Birdland Breakdown,” which is in the key of D minor and uses the D harmonic minor scale, a sound that is unusual for bluegrass but common in Gypsy jazz.

Melodic Mandolin Tunes with John Reischman

Swing 42 | Django Reinhardt’s sprightly uptempo tune “Swing 42” is a favorite of string jazz and bluegrass musicians, including David Grisman, who recorded it with Tony Rice on Tone Poems.

Irish Mandolin with Marla Fibish

St. Patrick’s Day | “St. Patrick’s Day” is another of the five traditional set dances. It’s in the key of G and in jig time, with an eight-bar A part and a 14-bar B part, the last four bars of which is the same as the last four bars of the A part.

Chord Melody Mandolin with Aaron Weinstein

This Can’t Be Love | Aaron’s arrangement of the Rodgers and Hart song “This Can’t Be Love” is in the key of F and features block chords, using a chord for every, or nearly every, melody note.

Bluegrass Mandolin Fingerboard Method with Sharon Gilchrist – NEW COURSE!

Your Love Is Like a Flower | Sharon shows you how to harmonize the melody of “Your Love Is Like a Flower” with double stops, and how to vary the basic double-stop solo with melodic embellishments, rhythmic variations, sliding double stops, Monroe licks, and more.

BANJO COURSES

Bluegrass Banjo with Bill Evans

12 Scruggs-Style Licks on C Chords | Bill shows you a variety of licks used by Earl Scruggs on C chords in tunes like “Earl’s Breakdown” and “Flint Hill Special” and songs like “Your Love Is Like a Flower” and “Cabin in Caroline.”

Clawhammer Banjo with Evie Ladin

Endings | Whether you’re playing a song or a tune at a concert or dance, at some point you’ll need to end whatever you’re playing, so Evie shows you some common endings for songs and tunes and how to create your own.

Contemporary Bluegrass Banjo with Wes Corbett

JD Crowe’s “Come Back to Me Little Darling” Break | The legendary Scruggs-style banjo player JD Crowe is particularly great at playing breaks to songs. In this lesson, you’ll learn his break to the bluegrass song “Come Back to Me Little Darling.”

FIDDLE COURSES

Beginning/Intermediate Fiddle with Chad Manning

“Green Valley Waltz” Harmony | Chad shows you a harmony part to the “Green Valley Waltz.” Like a lot of bluegrass harmony parts it doesn’t harmonize each note of the melody, but mirrors it with bluesy licks and double stops.

Bluegrass Fiddle with Chad Manning

Troubles ’Round My Door | Vassar Clements’s solo on “Troubles ’Round My Door” is a great example of his idiosyncratic bluesy fiddling. It’s in the key of B and includes some B minor pentatonic lines in different positions.

Old-Time Fiddle with Bruce Molsky

Singing and Fiddling: “The Blackest Crow” | The song “The Blackest Crow” was first published in 1906 with lyrics supposedly taken from a Civil War diary. Bruce’s version, in GDGD tuning, is influenced by the singing and playing of Tommy Jarrell.

BASS COURSES

Bass with Zoe Guigueno

Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch | The classic bass line to the Four Tops’ song “Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch” was played by the great Motown bassist James Jamerson. It’s a good eighth-note workout and includes some cool syncopations.

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.