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Mandolin
 		 
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Fiddle
 		 
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Ukulele
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Musicianship
 		   
 
Guitar Courses
Beginning Guitar
Adrianne Serna
Beginner
  
• 29 Lessons
• 24 Tunes
 
Learn to play guitar from scratch and sing some of your favorite songs with simple but powerful chords and strum patterns. Includes 24 great songs to play, with chord and lyric sheets.
 
Roots and Bluegrass Rhythm Guitar
Scott Nygaard
Intermediate
  
• 29 Lessons
• 26 Tunes
 
Learn the essential techniques of roots and bluegrass rhythm guitar by playing classic and contemporary songs, with flatpicking technique tips and strums, bass runs, and fills.
 
Intermediate Flatpicking Guitar
Scott Nygaard
Intermediate
  
• 42 Lessons
• 34 Tunes
 
Learn to play fiddle tunes and other bluegrass and roots melodies, with an emphasis on alternate picking, simple scales, and developing good picking- and fretting-hand technique. Designed for guitarists just starting to play melodies as well as intermediate players who want to work on their flatpicking technique.
 
Fingerstyle Guitar
Stevie Coyle
Intermediate / Advanced
  
• 34 Lessons
• 26 Tunes
 
Learn to play fingerstyle guitar, from traditional Travis-picking tunes to arrangements of contemporary fingerstyle tunes, song accompaniment and more, with acclaimed performer, teacher, and entertainer Stevie Coyle.
 
Blues Guitar
Orville Johnson
Intermediate / Advanced
  
• 27 Lessons
• 19 Tunes
 
Become a complete blues player through these lessons in country blues fingerpicking, blues lead guitar, and bottleneck slide, with great technique lessons and blues songs from Robert Johnson, Mississippi John Hurt, and more.
 
Advanced Flatpicking Guitar
Scott Nygaard
Advanced
  
• 84 Lessons
• 67 Tunes
 

Learn the essential techniques of bluegrass flatpicking guitar through classic and lesser-known songs and tunes, from bluegrass blues to old-time fiddle tunes to country swing sounds.

 
Fingerstyle Blues Guitar
Orville Johnson
Intermediate / Advanced
  
• 32 Lessons
• 23 Tunes
 
Learn to play fingerstyle blues, with a bottleneck slide and without, through songs from blues legends Mississippi John Hurt, Big Bill Broonzy, Lightnin' Hopkins, Tampa Red, Blind Willie Johnson, and more.
 
Irish Backup Guitar
Flynn Cohen
Intermediate
  
• 36 Lessons
• 27 Tunes
 

Learn to accompany jigs and reels and other traditional Irish dance tunes in the style pioneered by Irish guitar greats Paul Brady, Mícheál Ó Dhomhnaill, and Dáithí Sproule and used at Irish seisiúns. With chord voicings, rhythm patterns, and practice tracks.

 
Alternate Tunings Fingerstyle Guitar
Doug Young
Intermediate
  
• 19 Lessons
• 15 Tunes
• Monthly Updates
 
Alternate tunings can create beautiful guitar sounds that are impossible in standard tuning, and make some things easier to play. You’ll learn to play fingerstyle melodies in a variety of popular alternate tunings, including favorites like dropped D, DADGAD, and open G, as well as more unusual tunings.
 
Roots of Jazz Guitar
Matt Munisteri
Advanced
  
• 67 Lessons
• 45 Tunes
 

Learn to play the 1920s and ’30s chord melody and rhythm guitar styles of Eddie Lang, Nick Lucas, Freddie Green, Carl Kress, and other early jazz greats. With chord melody solos to popular swing melodies, advanced rhythm guitar techniques, and acoustic jazz picking techniques.

 
Bluegrass Guitar Fingerboard Mastery
Stash Wyslouch
Intermediate / Advanced
  
• 7 Lessons
• 4 Tunes
• Monthly Updates
 
A step-by-step approach to decoding the mysteries of the guitar neck through the lens of bluegrass, old-time, and country music.
 
Clawhammer Guitar
Steve Baughman
Intermediate / Advanced
  
• 21 Lessons
• 12 Tunes
 
Learn how to use the traditional clawhammer style of old-time banjo on the guitar to play traditional dance tunes with a powerful groove or sweet, contemplative melodies. With clawhammer technique exercises and 12 great tunes to play.
 
Celtic Guitar
Tony McManus
Advanced
  
• 17 Lessons
• 14 Tunes
 
Learn to play reels, jigs, airs, and other traditional forms, both fingerstyle and with a flatpick. Celtic guitar master Tony McManus walks you through melodies and shows you how to bring tunes to life with the ornamentation that defines Irish and Scottish traditional music.
 
Advanced Fingerstyle Workshop
Teja Gerken
Advanced
  
• 15 Lessons
• 15 Tunes
 
Meet 15 of the best players in the international fingerstyle guitar community, as they demonstrate their techniques, playing styles, and signature tunes.
 
Weekly Guitar Workout
Scott Nygaard
Advanced
  
• 21 Lessons
• 0 Tunes
 
This series of exercises will help guitarists learn the fingerboard and expand their knowledge of chord and scale theory, with handy tips on picking and fretting techniques that will improve their sound. Includes 100 workouts.
 
Guitar Chord Theory
Mark Goldenberg
Intermediate / Advanced
  
• 20 Lessons
• 0 Tunes
 
Learn guitar chord theory in-depth with Mark Goldenberg, a respected touring and session guitarist and a student of the legendary Ted Greene. You'll explore basic major and minor chord inversions all over the neck and on all string sets, as well as wide-triad voicings; harmonized major scales; major, minor, and dominant seventh-chord voicings; and more.
 
Swing Guitar Soloing
Matt Munisteri
Intermediate / Advanced
  
• 9 Lessons
• 10 Tunes
 
Study classic swing solos from Charlie Christian, Louis Armstrong, Django Reinhardt, and Lester Young, and learn key guitar techniques that will help you create a voice of your own.
 
Creating Bluegrass and Roots Music Solos
Scott Nygaard
Intermediate / Advanced
  
• 9 Lessons
• 15 Tunes
 
Learn to create interesting solos with this applied theory workshop. You’ll learn how to use scales and arpeggios to create melodic lines, about thematic soloing and improvising, how to create lines with a sense of forward motion, how to combine the melody of a song with fills, melodic variations, arpeggios, and more.
 
Live Workshop
The Song According to Matt Munisteri
Matt Munisteri
Intermediate / Advanced
  
 
Learn to improvise through chord changes and expand your knowledge of the fingerboard and music theory by exploring some of Matt’s favorite songs from a variety of sources: jazz, folk, country, western swing, rock, 1960s pop music, and more.
 
 
Mandolin Courses
Beginning Mandolin
Sharon Gilchrist
Beginner
  
• 27 Lessons
• 16 Tunes
 
Get started off right on the mandolin, with basic techniques, scales and chords, and simple and popular bluegrass and old-time tunes to play. Includes downloadable Play-Along audio practice tracks for rhythm and melody on all tunes, advice on embellishing melodies and playing tremolo, and more.
 
Theory for Mandolin and Fiddle
Chad Manning
Beginner / Intermediate
  
• 43 Lessons
• 6 Tunes
 
Learn the basics of music theory as it relates to four-string instruments tuned in fifths. Chad’s practical approach will deepen your knowledge of chords, scales, and arpeggios, and help you integrate them into your playing.
 
Bluegrass Mandolin Fingerboard Method
Sharon Gilchrist
Intermediate
  
• 23 Lessons
• 21 Tunes
 
Learn to play solos to any bluegrass song in any key with Sharon's intermediate-level method for learning the fingerboard, based on arpeggios, chop-chord shapes, and double stops.
 
Bluegrass Mandolin Jam Favorites
Joe K. Walsh
Intermediate
  
• 58 Lessons
• 57 Tunes
 
Learn the essential instrumental  tunes you’ll encounter at bluegrass jam sessions everywhere. Designed for intermediate level mandolinists, with tunes, techniques, and solos from mandolin greats.
 
Old-Time Mandolin
John Reischman
Intermediate
  
• 19 Lessons
• 17 Tunes
• Monthly Updates
 
Learn to play old-time fiddle tunes and song melodies with mandolin master John Reischman. Includes advice on picking technique and playing old-time rhythm on the mandolin.
 
Intermediate Bluegrass Mandolin
Sharon Gilchrist
Intermediate / Advanced
  
• 77 Lessons
• 58 Tunes
 
Learn to play solos on classic bluegrass songs and instrumentals using bluegrass mandolin techniques like tremolo, double stops, two-string melodies, and more.
 
Irish Mandolin
Marla Fibish
Intermediate / Advanced
  
• 89 Lessons
• 81 Tunes
 
Learn traditional Irish mandolin, with an emphasis on playing the dance music of Ireland with an authentic Irish feel and rhythm.
 
Monroe-Style Mandolin
Mike Compton
Intermediate / Advanced
  
• 86 Lessons
• 82 Tunes
• Monthly Updates
 
Learn traditional bluegrass-style mandolin as exemplified by the father of bluegrass, Bill Monroe, with original transcribed solos and tips on reproducing Monroe’s sound, rhythm, and feel.
 
Melodic Mandolin Tunes
John Reischman
Intermediate / Advanced
  
• 64 Lessons
• 61 Tunes
 
Learn great traditional and original tunes in a variety of styles—old-time, bluegrass, Latin, jazz, and more—from a modern mandolin master.
 
The Advancing Mandolinist
Joe K. Walsh
Intermediate / Advanced
  
• 100 Lessons
• 98 Tunes
• Monthly Updates
 
Explore all the modern mandolin techniques, from tremolo, chords and double stops, and soloing and improvisation tips, with plenty of bluegrass, old-time and swing tunes to keep you moving forward.
 
Chord Melody Mandolin
Aaron Weinstein
Advanced
  
• 45 Lessons
• 37 Tunes
• Monthly Updates
 
Learn how to combine chords and melody to play jazz standards in the style pioneered by jazz mandolinist Jethro Burns and guitarists like Joe Pass and Bucky Pizzarelli.
 
Melodic Embellishment
Sharon Gilchrist
Intermediate
  
• 9 Lessons
• 7 Tunes
 
In this workshop, Sharon will use common bluegrass and old-time tunes like “Old Joe Clark,” “Whiskey Before Breakfast,” “June Apple,” “Angeline the Baker,” and more to demonstrate her method for teaching students how to embellish and vary melodies as a way to begin to improvise.
 
Octave Mandolin
Joe K. Walsh
Intermediate / Advanced
  
• 22 Lessons
• 20 Tunes
• Monthly Updates
 
Learn to transfer what you know on the mandolin to its bigger cousin and how to exploit the octave mandolin’s potential for more complex, guitar-oriented accompaniment styles. For intermediate mandolin, fiddle, or guitar players with a basic knowledge of their instrument.
 
Brazilian Choro Mandolin
Ian Coury
Intermediate / Advanced
  
• 7 Lessons
• 6 Tunes
• Monthly Updates
 
Learn to play Brazilian choro music on the mandolin with young Brazilian virtuoso Ian Coury, from the classic sounds of Jacob do Bandolim to the modern style of Hamilton Holanda. Includes play-along tracks with Ian’s Brazilian backing band.
 
Improvising for Mandolin and Fiddle
Joe K. Walsh
Intermediate / Advanced
  
• 9 Lessons
• 8 Tunes
 
Learn to improvise on fiddle tunes, create new melodies over chord changes, practice the arpeggios and scales you need to play jazz tunes, and more. Joe lays out his approach to improvising and practicing improvising, with exercises and solos that illustrate his unique, widely acclaimed, freewheeling style.
 
Swing Mandolin: Rhythm and Chord Solos
Aaron Weinstein
Intermediate
  
• 9 Lessons
• 8 Tunes
 
Learn to play swing rhythm mandolin and how to create rhythmic chord solos, using eight classic jazz and swing tunes, with one of the world’s greatest swing mandolinists, Aaron Weinstein.
 
 
Banjo Courses
Beginning Banjo
Bill Evans
Beginner / Intermediate
  
• 35 Lessons
• 30 Tunes
 
The driving sound of the banjo is at the heart of many styles of roots music. Get started with basic chords, strums, and fingerings, along with simple bluegrass rolls, accompaniment patterns, clawhammer style, and more.
 
Bluegrass Banjo
Bill Evans
Intermediate / Advanced
  
• 100 Lessons
• 82 Tunes
• Monthly Updates
 
Learn to make your banjo drive the band or play sweet melodies, with solos to well-known songs and tunes, backup techniques, and more.
 
Clawhammer Banjo
Evie Ladin
Beginner / Intermediate
  
• 78 Lessons
• 61 Tunes
 
Learn old-time clawhammer banjo from the beginning, with basic clawhammer technique exercises and lots of great old-time and traditional songs to play.
 
Old-Time Banjo
Bruce Molsky
Intermediate / Advanced
  
• 32 Lessons
• 31 Tunes
• Monthly Updates
 

Learn the tunes and techniques of some of the legends of old-time banjo, taught by one of the icons of contemporary old-time music.

 
The Banjo According to Danny Barnes
Danny Barnes
Intermediate / Advanced
  
• 20 Lessons
• 9 Tunes
 
Roots music iconoclast Danny Barnes reveals his systematic approach to the banjo, with one-of-a-kind insights on improvisation, reading music, getting a good sound out of the banjo, rhythm and timing, and more.
 
Contemporary Bluegrass Banjo
Wes Corbett
Intermediate / Advanced
  
• 40 Lessons
• 27 Tunes
• Monthly Updates
 
Learn the style of contemporary three-finger banjo used by Béla Fleck, Noam Pikelny, Ron Block, and others. With lessons on single-string and melodic style, fingerboard theory, improvisation, and more. For intermediate to advanced players.
 
Earl Scruggs: A Player's Guide
Bill Evans
Intermediate / Advanced
  
• 9 Lessons
• 20 Tunes
 
Earl Scruggs: A Player’s Guide picks up where Earl’s renowned instruction book Earl Scruggs and the Five-String Banjo leaves off, teaching tunes and techniques that will help each student become a more complete Scruggs-style player.
 
Melodic and Single-String Banjo
Bill Evans
Intermediate / Advanced
  
• 9 Lessons
• 23 Tunes
 
Learn the two bluegrass banjo techniques that were added to Scruggs-style to create exciting bluegrass music from the 1950s to the present day, melodic-style and single-string.
 
 
Fiddle Courses
Beginning Bluegrass and Old-Time Fiddle
Chad Manning
Beginner
  
• 45 Lessons
• 34 Tunes
• Monthly Updates
 
Learn fiddle from scratch by learning popular fiddle tunes, with lots of technique tips and advice on how to get that fiddley sound.
 
Beginning Celtic Fiddle
Emerald Rae
Beginner
  
• 15 Lessons
• 10 Tunes
• Monthly Updates
 
Learn to play the fiddle from scratch using traditional Scottish and Irish melodies. With essential techniques for both hands.
 
Intermediate Bluegrass and Old-Time Fiddle
Chad Manning
Intermediate
  
• 48 Lessons
• 37 Tunes
 
Learn classic bluegrass and old-time tunes and improve your playing with fiddle techniques like unison drones, slides, pulses, and more advanced bowing patterns, as well as advice on improvising and soloing on bluegrass songs.
 
Old-Time Fiddle
Bruce Molsky
Intermediate / Advanced
  
• 96 Lessons
• 95 Tunes
• Monthly Updates
 
Get deep into the roots of Southern Appalachian old-time fiddling. Bruce breaks down the melody, bowing patterns, rhythms, and embellishments of each tune he teaches so you can really learn to play like Bruce and the old masters he learned from.
 
Advanced Bluegrass Fiddle
Chad Manning
Intermediate / Advanced
  
• 88 Lessons
• 66 Tunes
 
Learn fiddle in the styles of Kenny Baker, Stuart Duncan, Vassar Clements, Bobby Hicks, and other bluegrass greats by learning classic tunes, with improvisation exercises and advanced techniques.
 
Irish Fiddle
Dale Russ
Intermediate / Advanced
  
• 34 Lessons
• 30 Tunes
 
Learn traditional Irish fiddle, with an emphasis on playing the dance music of Ireland, including jigs, reels, polkas, slip jigs, hornpipes, and more, with an Irish feel and ornamentation.
 
Fiddle Styles Workshop
Brittany Haas
Advanced
  
• 24 Lessons
• 24 Tunes
 
Meet some of the best fiddlers on the planet in these intimate workshops that get to the root of a host of individual fiddle styles. Includes 24 complete tunes and transcriptions.
 
Old-Time Fiddle Styles
Bruce Molsky
Intermediate / Advanced
  
• 9 Lessons
• 17 Tunes
 
Learn a variety of old-time fiddle tunes in different regional styles from great players of the past. Bruce teaches a variety of classic tunes, with advice about bowing, double stops, ornamentation, and ideas for more listening and learning.
 
Improvising for Fiddlers and Violinists
Alisa Rose
Intermediate / Advanced
  
• 9 Lessons
• 13 Tunes
• Monthly Updates
 
Learn to improvise and connect to your own creative impulses through musical games, simple exercises, and fiddle tunes. You’ll explore improvisation fundamentals of rhythm and pitch, learn how to create and vary melodies, use small building blocks or motifs to build a solo, practice scales and arpeggios, and much more.
 
Theory for Mandolin and Fiddle
Chad Manning
Beginner / Intermediate
  
• 43 Lessons
• 6 Tunes
 
Learn the basics of music theory as it relates to four-string instruments tuned in fifths. Chad’s practical approach will deepen your knowledge of chords, scales, and arpeggios, and help you integrate them into your playing.
 
Live Workshop
Creative Jam Skills
Lauren Rioux and Brittany Haas
Intermediate
  
 
Learn techniques to take a new tune or an old tune you love to the next step—with bowing ideas, chordal and rhythmic exploration, and soloing practice.
 
 
Dobro Courses
Beginning Dobro
Mike Witcher
Beginner / Intermediate
  
• 27 Lessons
• 17 Tunes
 
Learn the basics of the lap-style resophonic slide guitar, with essential tips on right- and left-hand technique as well as arrangements of classic tunes and songs.
 
Dobro Workshop
Mike Witcher
Intermediate / Advanced
  
• 52 Lessons
• 38 Tunes
 
Explore a variety of dobro styles, from bluegrass and fiddle tunes to blues and contemporary sounds, and get insights on technique that will help you clean up your playing, while learning the techniques of Jerry Douglas, Josh Graves, and other dobro greats.
 
 
Ukulele Courses
Ukulele
Marcy Marxer
Beginner / Intermediate
  
• 36 Lessons
• 29 Tunes
 
Start playing easy versions of your favorite songs on the ukulele today. You’ll learn the basics, like strumming, first-position chords, and keeping solid time, all while playing a variety of songs that sound great on the lovable little “dancing flea.” Then move on to more intermediate-level techniques with more fun songs to play. Includes Play-Along Tracks so you can play along with Marcy.
 
 
Bass Courses
Bass
Zoe Guigueno
Beginner / Intermediate
  
• 33 Lessons
• 23 Tunes
 
Learn to play upright bass from scratch with advice on right- and left-hand technique and in-depth lessons on playing bass patterns, scales, and melodies in most common keys. With bass lines from great roots music songs so you can play along.
 
 
Musicianship Courses
Learning by Ear
Lissa Schneckenburger
Intermediate
  
• 14 Lessons
• 3 Tunes
 
Learn to pick up tunes on the fly and increase your ability to interact with your fellow musicians with this valuable ear-training course. With lots of exercises and advice on mastering this essential musical skill.
 
Creating Bluegrass and Roots Music Solos
Scott Nygaard
Intermediate / Advanced
  
• 9 Lessons
• 15 Tunes
 
Learn to create interesting solos with this applied theory workshop. You’ll learn how to use scales and arpeggios to create melodic lines, about thematic soloing and improvising, how to create lines with a sense of forward motion, how to combine the melody of a song with fills, melodic variations, arpeggios, and more.
 
Theory for Mandolin and Fiddle
Chad Manning
Beginner / Intermediate
  
• 43 Lessons
• 6 Tunes
 
Learn the basics of music theory as it relates to four-string instruments tuned in fifths. Chad’s practical approach will deepen your knowledge of chords, scales, and arpeggios, and help you integrate them into your playing.
 
Improvising for Mandolin and Fiddle
Joe K. Walsh
Intermediate / Advanced
  
• 9 Lessons
• 8 Tunes
 
Learn to improvise on fiddle tunes, create new melodies over chord changes, practice the arpeggios and scales you need to play jazz tunes, and more. Joe lays out his approach to improvising and practicing improvising, with exercises and solos that illustrate his unique, widely acclaimed, freewheeling style.
 
Improvising for Fiddlers and Violinists
Alisa Rose
Intermediate / Advanced
  
• 9 Lessons
• 13 Tunes
• Monthly Updates
 
Learn to improvise and connect to your own creative impulses through musical games, simple exercises, and fiddle tunes. You’ll explore improvisation fundamentals of rhythm and pitch, learn how to create and vary melodies, use small building blocks or motifs to build a solo, practice scales and arpeggios, and much more.
 
 
Live Workshops
Creative Jam Skills
Lauren Rioux and Brittany Haas
Intermediate
  
 
Learn techniques to take a new tune or an old tune you love to the next step—with bowing ideas, chordal and rhythmic exploration, and soloing practice.
 
The Song According to Matt Munisteri
Matt Munisteri
Intermediate / Advanced
  
 
Learn to improvise through chord changes and expand your knowledge of the fingerboard and music theory by exploring some of Matt’s favorite songs from a variety of sources: jazz, folk, country, western swing, rock, 1960s pop music, and more.
 
 
 
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String School
    ● Courses
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    ● Instructors
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    ● For Beginners
 
 
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    ● In The Studio
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    ● Backroom
 
 
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    ● New Products
    ● Inside Look
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    ● Partner Pages
 
 
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