Sponsored By
 
 
Western Swing Fiddle
with Chad Manning
 
 
About This Course
 
Learn to play classic western swing melodies and solos from western swing fiddle greats like Johnny Gimble, Joe Holley, and others. For each song, you’ll learn the melody and a solo, along with tips on western swing fiddle technique, phrasing, improvisation.
 
 
Meet the Instructor
Chad Manning
 
 
Chad Manning is a Bay Area bluegrass, old-time, and swing fiddler who plays with the David Grisman Sextet, the David Grisman Bluegrass Experience, and Laurie Lewis and the Right Hands. Over the years he has toured with many bluegrass greats such as J.D. Crowe, Curly Seckler, Alan Munde, and Tony Trischka, to name a few. Chad also finds great joy in teaching and working with all levels of adult fiddle students. He and his wife, Catherine, teach more than a hundred students at their studio in Berkeley, California.
 
 
 
Peghead Play-Along Tracks
 
Peghead Nation is creating a library of accompaniment videos (and downloadable MP3s) for songs and tunes that are taught on the site, classics that you'll find at many jams and picking parties. As a subscriber, you have access to this library and can use the tracks to practice playing tunes and songs at a slow or medium tempo with guitar accompaniment. New songs will be added regularly.
 
 
Western Swing Fiddle Source Material

Check out these songs featured in the Western Swing Fiddle course.


The Western Swing Fiddle Subscription Includes:
  • Melodies to western swing classics from Bob Wills, Asleep at the Wheel, and more Transcriptions of classic solos by Johnny Gimble, Joe Holley, and other western swing fiddle greats
  • Advice on western swing–style soloing and improvising
  • Chord and arpeggio theory and practice exercises for each song
  • New lessons added every month
  • High-quality video with multiple camera angles so you can see close-ups of both hands in action
  • Detailed notation for each lesson
  • Play-Along Track videos and audio downloads so you can play along with Chad
 
 
$20/Month For One Course
 
Additional courses only $10/month each!   •   Save 20% with an annual subscription
 
 
Get started now!
Use promo code ChadLand at checkout
and get your first month free or $20 off an annual subscription.
 
Western Swing Fiddle Course Outline
 
Western Swing Boot Camp
 

These lessons introduce you to some of the most important aspects of playing western swing on the fiddle—swing rhythms, essential arpeggios, phrasing, and more. You can begin your western swing fiddle journey by going through all of these lessons before you dive into the individual song lessons, or start with a few of these technical lessons and then return for more after you’ve got some songs under your belt.

 
Swing Rhythms

Chad gives you a quick lesson in swing rhythms with a call-and-response exercise on a 12-bar blues progression. He starts with just one note (G) and then adds one other note (E) so you can concentrate on the rhythms he’s playing with one- and two-note phrases. He also talks about the kind of phrasing that makes a melody swing.

 

Outlining Swing Chords

Chad shows you two essential arpeggios (dominant ninth and major sixth) that are frequently used in western swing fiddling.

 

Neighbor Tones

Chad shows you some phrases using neighbor tunes, a half step below each chord tone. He shows you how to do this on a G chord: G, B, D. Adding neighbor tones to those notes you get F#–G, Bb–B, and C#–D. He also shows you a cool Johnny Gimble lick that uses the neighbor tone below the chord tone along with the note in the scale above the chord tone.

 

Tails, Slides, and Blops

Chad shows you some stylistic techniques that are essential for Western swing fiddle players: tails, slides, and what he calls “blops” or “blaps.”

 

Percussive Bow Attack

Chad talks about the percussive bow attack used in western swing fiddling.

 

Scale Patterns

Chad shows you some basic scale patterns to help you get more comfortable improvising with a scale.

 

 
Western Swing Songs
 

In these lessons, you’ll learn the melody, chords, and a classic solo to some of the most well-known western swing songs.

 
Sugar Moon

“Sugar Moon” was written by Bob Wills and Cindy Walker, and was recorded by Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys in 1947. It reached Number 1 on the Billboard Country charts and stayed there for six weeks. Chad shows you the melody and chords to “Sugar Moon” and points out how they relate to each other, which will help you learn to improvise over the chords when it’s time to take a solo. He also shows you some double stops you can add to the melody.

 

“Sugar Moon” Solo

In this lesson, you’ll learn a “Sugar Moon” solo that combines an A part played by Johnny Gimble on an Austin City Limits show with Asleep at the Wheel and the Texas Playboys and an A part from Joe Holley’s solo on the original Bob Wills recording.

 

Right or Wrong

“Right or Wrong” is a 1920’s jazz ballad that was recorded by a lot of early jazz bands and was later picked up by Bob Wills, who made it a western swing classic. There are many great versions, including versions by Bob Wills and Milton Brown. Country star George Strait’s recording of  “Right or Wrong”  includes a solo by Johnny Gimble, which you’ll learn in this lesson.

 

Panhandle Shuffle

The instrumental tune “Panhandle Shuffle” comes from the Sons of the West, a Western swing group who played around the Amarillo, Texas, area during the late 1930s and early ’40s. They were founded in 1936 by fiddler Son Lansford, a cousin of Bob Wills.

 

Corinne, Corinna

“Corinne, Corinna” is an old folk and blues song that Bob Wills recorded in 1940 with Louis Tierney on fiddle. You’ll learn the tune in the key of Bb, so Chad starts by going over scales and arpeggios in Bb. Then you’ll learn the melody and Louis Tierney’s solo.

 

Pretty Palomino

“Pretty Palomino” is a western swing fiddle tune in the key of A that comes from western swing fiddle great Johnny Gimble. You’ll learn the melody as well as Johnny’s fiddle solo.

 

Take Me Back to Tulsa

“Take Me Back to Tulsa” is a western swing classic that was created when Bob Wills and Tommy Duncan put words to the fiddle tune “Walkin’ Georgia Rose.” In this lesson, you’ll learn the melody as well as a solo by fiddler Louis Tierney from the 1941 Bob Wills recording of “Take Me Back to Tulsa.”

 

Improvising on “Take Me Back to Tulsa”

In this lesson, Chad gives you some ideas and exercises to help you start improvising on “Take Me Back to Tulsa.” He gives you exercises with G6 and D9 arpeggios and neighbor tones and suggests you try singing with your fiddle.

 

My Window Faces the South

“My Window Faces the South” was written in 1937 and first recorded by Fats Waller. Bob Wills recorded “My Window Faces the South” in 1938 and again in the mid-1940s for the Tiffany Transcriptions. In this lesson, you’ll learn the melody as well as a Johnny Gimble solo to “My Window Faces the South.”

 

Silver Bell

“Silver Bell” is a Tin Pan Alley song from 1910 that became a favorite of fiddlers and old-time musicians like Clayton McMichen and Ernest Stoneman. It was recorded by Bob Wills in 1938. The first part of “Silver Bell” is in the key of D and the second part is in G. You’ll learn the melody and a swingin’ version of the B part from Johnny Gimble.

 

Miss Molly

“Miss Molly” is another western swing classic from Bob Wills. It was written by Cindy Walker, who also wrote such western swing classics as “Sugar Moon,” “Bubbles in my Beer” and “Goin’ Away Party” as well as country hits for the likes of Ernest Tubbs, Gene Autry, Loretta Lynn, and many others.  In this lesson, you’ll learn the melody as well as solos by fiddlers Randy Elmore (verse) and Johnny Gimble (chorus) from Willie Nelson’s recording of “Miss Molly.”

 

Blues for Dixie

“Blues for Dixie” is another classic Cindy Walker song. Bob Wills recorded it in 1947 and there have been many other great recordings. You’ll learn the melody as well as a Johnny Gimble solo from a live Asleep at the Wheel performance. Chad also gives you ideas for soloing on the circle-of-fifths progressions in “Blues for Dixie.”

 

Deep Water

Bob Wills recorded the Fred Rose song “Deep Water” in 1947. In this lesson, Chad shows you the melody of “Deep Water” in the key of G and gives you ideas for coming up with your own solo.

 

Bring It on Down to My House, Honey

“Bring It Down to My House, Honey” comes from the blues musician Blind Willie McTell (who called it “Come On Around to My House, Mama”). It became popular with western swing bands and was recorded by Bob Wills, Milton Brown and His Brownies, and many others. Chad teaches you the melody to “Bring It Down to My House, Honey,” with some western swing–style embellishments and variations, and talks about soloing and improvising on the song. 

 

Take the “A” Train

In this lesson, you’ll learn the Duke Ellington standard “Take the ‘A’ Train,” which was recorded by Bob Wills for the Tiffany Transcriptions. You’ll learn the melody as well as part of an Ella Fitzgerald scat solo on “Take the A Train.”

 

Time Changes Everything - New Lesson

“Time Changes Everything” was written by Bob Wills singer Tommy Duncan and released by Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys in 1940. Since then, there have been many recordings, including a great one by Merle Haggard. In this lesson, you’ll learn to play the melody in the key of F in two octaves with and without double stops.

 

 
 
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