In this workshop, Aaron will guide you through two familiar holiday classics in each live Zoom session. He’ll teach you simple, accessible arrangements of the melodies enhanced with simple chords. For players who prefer to focus just on the melody, Aaron’s arrangements will work without the chords. You’ll also learn accompaniment for each tune, including simple, functional chord voicings so you can provide tasteful backup for singers or other instrumentalists. Whether you’re playing in a group, supporting a singer, or just want to bring some holiday cheer, these lessons will help you and your mandolin bring the holiday spirit!

Aaron’s teaching style emphasizes clarity and accessibility, so even if you’re new to chord melody playing or arranging, you’ll come away with arrangements of holiday classics that you can use right away in gatherings with family and friends. Holiday Songs for Mandolin is designed for intermediate-level mandolinists who are comfortable with basic melody playing and closed chord forms. You don’t need to know jazz or improvisation for this workshop.

Aaron Weinstein

Called “a perfect musician” by jazz guitar legend, Bucky Pizzarelli, Aaron Weinstein “is rapidly establishing himself as one of his instrument’s rare jazz masters.” (Don Heckman, International Review of Music). Aaron is a respected violinist and mandolinist, widely regarded as one of the mandolin’s leading exponents in the jazz idiom, and author of the jazz mandolin book Mandolin Chord Melody System (Mel Bay Publications). As a featured soloist, Aaron has performed at Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, Jazz at Lincoln Center, Birdland, Blue Note, as well as at jazz festivals in England, France, Iceland, Israel, and Switzerland. He has performed and recorded with an array of jazz icons including Les Paul, Bucky Pizzarelli, John Pizzarelli, Dick Hyman, Dave Frishberg, Jon Hendricks, and Annie Ross, as well as musicians as varied as New York Pops conductor Skitch Henderson and rock guitarist Jay Geils. He has written arrangements for vocalists such as Christine Ebersole, Linda Lavin, and the Manhattan Transfer’s Janis Siegel.

Aaron is a recipient of both the New York City Bistro and New York City Nightlife Awards. With the release of his Arbors Records debut, A Handful of Stars (heralded as “the rebirth of the hot jazz violin” by Nat Hentoff of the Wall Street Journal), Aaron became the youngest jazz musician to record for the prestigious label. He is a graduate of the Berklee College of Music, where he was awarded a full four-year talent-based scholarship. He was named as one of Downbeat’s Rising Stars in the venerable publication’s 2019 critic’s poll, and his recent album 3×3 features Aaron on violin, Peghead Nation instructor Matt Munisteri on guitar, and Tom Hubbard on bass, and is the perfect illustration of the beauty of simplicity.

Workshop Schedule

Sessions will be held weekly on Zoom, Tuesdays from 5 pm to 6:30 pm PST (8 pm to 9:30 pm EST), starting on November 11, 2025, and ending on December 16, 2025.  Please note: Session 3 will take place on Monday, November 24.  After the live sessions are complete, students will continue to have access to workshop recordings and materials when signed in to their Peghead Nation account.

This will be the ZOOM link for all six live sessions:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84950413101?pwd=Wwbf3JJEoNFqzM4uSeJ8JxOI55QwGS.1

Session #1: Tuesday, November 11

Session #2: Tuesday, November 18

Session #3: MONDAY, November 24

Session #4: Tuesday, December 2

Session #5: Tuesday, December 9

Session #6: Tuesday, December 16