Banjo Courses

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!

Available Banjo Courses

Beginning Banjo

with 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.

Course Details

Sample Lesson

Bluegrass Banjo

with Bill Evans

Intermediate / Advanced

• 100 Lessons

• 82 Tunes

Learn to make your banjo drive the band or play sweet melodies, with solos to well-known songs and tunes, backup techniques, and more.

Course Details

Sample Lesson

Clawhammer Banjo

with Evie Ladin

Beginner / Intermediate

• 82 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.

Course Details

Sample Lesson

Old-Time Banjo

with Bruce Molsky

Intermediate / Advanced

• 45 Lessons

• 44 Tunes

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.

Course Details

Sample Lesson

The Banjo According to Danny Barnes

with 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.

Course Details

Sample Lesson

Contemporary Bluegrass Banjo

with Wes Corbett

Intermediate / Advanced

• 44 Lessons

• 30 Tunes

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.

Course Details

Sample Lesson

Earl Scruggs: A Player's Guide

with 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.

Course Details

Sample Lesson

Melodic and Single-String Banjo

with 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.

Course Details

Sample Lesson

The Banjo Style of J.D. Crowe

with Bill Evans

Intermediate / Advanced

• 9 Lessons

• 18 Tunes

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.

Course Details

Sample Lesson

Banjo Performances

Featured Videos arrow next

Bill Evans, John Reischman, Chad Manning, Mike Witcher, Jim Nunally, and Mark Schatz: “Stoney Lonesome”

A powerhouse group of Peghead Nation instructors plays a bluegrass classic at our 10th Anniversary Showcase.

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Bill Evans’ American Banjo Museum Hall of Fame Induction

Peghead Nation banjo ambassador is recognized by America's venerable banjo organization.

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Charlie Torch: “Red Rocking Chair”

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.

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Peghead Nation’s 10th Anniversary | We Want to Hear from You

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!