Whether you're just starting out or have been playing banjo for years, Peghead Nation has courses to help you develop your playing and tune repertoire. From beginning to advanced banjo lessons with some of the finest players and instructors in roots music, you can delve into bluegrass, old-time, clawhammer, Scruggs-style, melodic, and other styles, building your repertoire of tunes and filling out your toolbox of techniques as you go. See introduction videos of all of our banjo courses below, and check out free sample lessons as well. Enjoy!
with Bill Evans
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Beginner / Intermediate
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• 35 Lessons
• 30 Tunes
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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.
with Bill Evans
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Intermediate / Advanced
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• 100 Lessons
• 82 Tunes
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Learn to make your banjo drive the band or play sweet melodies, with solos to well-known songs and tunes, backup techniques, and more.
with Evie Ladin
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Beginner / Intermediate
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• 82 Lessons
• 61 Tunes
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Learn old-time clawhammer banjo from the beginning, with basic clawhammer technique exercises and lots of great old-time and traditional songs to play.
with Bruce Molsky
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Intermediate / Advanced
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• 45 Lessons
• 44 Tunes
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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.
with Danny Barnes
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Intermediate / Advanced
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• 20 Lessons
• 9 Tunes
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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.
with Wes Corbett
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Intermediate / Advanced
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• 44 Lessons
• 30 Tunes
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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.
with Bill Evans
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Intermediate / Advanced
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• 9 Lessons
• 20 Tunes
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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.
with Bill Evans
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Intermediate / Advanced
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• 9 Lessons
• 23 Tunes
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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.
with Bill Evans
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Intermediate / Advanced
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• 9 Lessons
• 18 Tunes
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Next to Earl Scruggs, J.D. Crowe is the most influential five-string bluegrass banjo player in the history of the instrument and The Banjo Style of J.D. Crowe provides an overview of his long career, teaching tunes and techniques from J.D.’s earliest days with Jimmy Martin through his classic recordings with The New South and his remarkable work with The Bluegrass Album Band. The series is designed for intermediate to advanced banjo players, and features guest banjo stars Ron Block and Ron Stewart.
Banjo Performances
Our Clawhammer Banjo instructor plays a great version of a Hank Williams song in the Peghead Nation studio.
The California Bluegrass Reunion band plays a Bill Evans original tune at the Peghead Nation 10th Anniversary Party.
A powerhouse group of Peghead Nation instructors plays a bluegrass classic at our 10th Anniversary Showcase.
Peghead Nation banjo ambassador is recognized by America's venerable banjo organization.
Peghead Nation fiddle instructor Chad Manning plays a traditional song with his band that includes siblings Jasper and Jayda Manning, Tyler Stengall, and Mark Schatz.
We’d love to hear what you’ve learned on Peghead Nation. Record a video of your playing and share it with us on our social media channels to help celebrate our 10th!
Peghead Nation’s Contemporary Bluegrass Banjo instructor plays a traditional classic with his duet partner, hammer dulcimer virtuoso Simon Chrisman.
Our Clawhammer Banjo instructor plays an old-time favorite in the Peghead Nation studio.
The flatpicker, songwriter, and singer performs the title track to her Grammy-winning album at the Fox Theater in Oakland, California.
Banjo Demos
Evie Ladin demonstrates a great tool for quiet banjo practice.
Evie Ladin demonstrates one of her own go-to banjos.
Evie Ladin demonstrates the brand new cherry version of Deering’s open-back Vega Vintage Star banjo and compares it to the original maple instrument.
Peghead Nation banjo instructor Wes Corbett demonstrates Béla Fleck’s new signature model.
Peghead Nation banjo instructor Wes Corbett discusses the pickup, amp, and pedals he uses when playing onstage with the Sam Bush Band.
Peghead Nation instructor Steve Baughman demonstrates his go-to open-back banjo.
Peghead Nation banjo instructor Wes Corbett demonstrates his favorite armrest.
Evie Ladin demonstrates a custom-made open-back banjo.
Evie Ladin demonstrates a great mid-price open-back banjo.
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