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Guitar Courses

Whether you're just starting out or have been playing guitar for years, Peghead Nation has courses to help you develop your playing and song repertoire. From beginning to advanced guitar lessons with some of the finest players and instructors in roots music, you can delve into bluegrass, fingerstyle, flatpicking, Celtic, roots backup, 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 guitar courses below, and check out free sample lessons as well. Enjoy!

Available Guitar Courses

Beginning Guitar

Beginning Guitar

with Adrianne Serna

difficulty 1

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

Roots and Bluegrass Rhythm Guitar

with Scott Nygaard

difficulty 3

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.

Fingerstyle Guitar

Fingerstyle Guitar

with Stevie Coyle

difficulty 4

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.

Intermediate Flatpicking Guitar

Intermediate Flatpicking Guitar

with Scott Nygaard

difficulty 3

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 Blues Guitar

Fingerstyle Blues Guitar

with Orville Johnson

difficulty 4

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.

Roots of Jazz Guitar

Roots of Jazz Guitar

with Matt Munisteri

difficulty 5

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.

Advanced Flatpicking Guitar

Advanced Flatpicking Guitar

with Scott Nygaard

difficulty 5

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.

Irish Backup Guitar

Irish Backup Guitar

with Flynn Cohen

difficulty 3

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.

Blues Guitar

with Orville Johnson

difficulty 4

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.

Western Swing Guitar

Western Swing Guitar

with Matt Munisteri

difficulty 4

Intermediate / Advanced

• 24 Lessons

• 21 Tunes

Learn to play the classic western swing rhythm style pioneered by Eldon Shamblin, as well as “twin guitar” solos from Bob Wills’s guitarists and the soloing styles of greats like Junior Barnard, Jimmy Wyble, and others.

Irish Flatpicking Guitar

Irish Flatpicking Guitar

with Flynn Cohen

difficulty 4

Intermediate / Advanced

• 26 Lessons

• 23 Tunes

Learn to play traditional Irish dance tunes such as reels, jigs, and hornpipes on the guitar in the style of Paul Brady, John Doyle, Arty McGlynn, and others. With technique lessons on jig picking, triplets, and other techniques derived from traditional Irish tenor banjo playing.

Maybelle Carter–Style Guitar

Maybelle Carter–Style Guitar

with Cathy Fink

difficulty 3

Intermediate

• 23 Lessons

• 20 Tunes

Learn to play guitar like the legendary Maybelle Carter of the Carter Family, whose recordings are one of the backbones of the old-time country music and bluegrass repertoire and helped create the country music genre. Includes transcriptions of Maybelle’s thumb-lead style on classic songs.

Contemporary Flatpicking Guitar

Contemporary Flatpicking Guitar

with Grant Gordy

difficulty 4

Intermediate / Advanced

• 10 Lessons

• 3 Tunes

Former David Grisman Quintet guitarist Grant Gordy shows you his modern approach to flatpicking and how he combines a wide array of musical influences to create his unique style. With advice on theory and navigating the fingerboard and how to use that knowledge to create your own solos.

Alternate Tunings Fingerstyle Guitar

Alternate Tunings Fingerstyle Guitar

with Doug Young

difficulty 3

Intermediate

• 29 Lessons

• 25 Tunes

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.

Bluegrass Guitar Fingerboard Mastery

Bluegrass Guitar Fingerboard Mastery

with Stash Wyslouch

difficulty 3

Intermediate

• 29 Lessons

• 16 Tunes

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

Clawhammer Guitar

with Steve Baughman

difficulty 4

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

with Tony McManus

difficulty 5

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

Advanced Fingerstyle Workshop

with Teja Gerken

difficulty 5

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

Weekly Guitar Workout

with Scott Nygaard

difficulty 5

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

Guitar Chord Theory

with Mark Goldenberg

difficulty 4

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

Swing Guitar Soloing

with Matt Munisteri

difficulty 4

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

Creating Bluegrass and Roots Music Solos

with Scott Nygaard

difficulty 4

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.

The Song According to Matt Munisteri

The Song According to Matt Munisteri

with Matt Munisteri

difficulty 4

Intermediate / Advanced

• 7 Lessons

• 6 Tunes

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, and 1960s pop music.

Guitar Performances

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Scott Nygaard and John Reischman: “Little Liza Jane”

Peghead Nation Co-founder plays an old-time tune with his fellow Harmonic Tone Revealer at our 10th Anniversary Showcase.

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Joe K. Walsh with Scott Nygaard, Alisa Rose, and Mark Schatz: “Juneau What it Means to Miss Alaska”

Founding member of Mr Sun plays an original tune with a great crew of his fellow Peghead instructors.

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Alisa Rose with Scott Nygaard, Jesse Appelman, and Mark Schatz: “The High Road”

Peghead Nation fiddle instructor plays a Tim O’Brien tune (with two O’Boys) at our 10th Anniversary Showcase.

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Teja Gerken, Doug Young, Stevie Coyle: “While My Guitar Gently Weeps”

A trio of our fingerstyle guitar faculty play a virtuosic arrangement of George Harrison and the Beatles classic.

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Adrianne Serna with Avery Quinton: “All That Light”

Our Beginning Guitar instructor plays a beautiful original song at the Peghead Nation 10th Anniversary Party.

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Marla Fibish and Flynn Cohen: Rocky Road to Dublin, Comb Your Hair and Curl It, James Kelly’s

Peghead Nation Irish mandolin and guitar teachers play a set of hop jigs at our 10th Anniversary Party and Showcase.

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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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John Reischman, Ethan Setiawan, Mike Compton, and Kenny Smith: “Turkey in the Straw”

Three Peghead Nation mandolin instructors play a bluegrass classic at Great Lakes Music Camp.

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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.

Guitar Demos

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Shubb C1 and FineTune Capos

A look at Shubb’s two main guitar capo designs.

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Santa Cruz OO-Skye

Eric Skye demonstrates his 00-size Santa Cruz signature model.

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Collings OMH2 and 001MH

Mark Goldenberg demonstrates his pair of Collings flattop guitars.

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Taylor 810e DLX

Taylor’s oldest model gets a deluxe treatment.

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Santa Cruz Otis Taylor Chicago

The Santa Cruz signature model for bluesman Otis Taylor is all about mahogany.

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Iseman Weissenborn

Mike Witcher demonstrates a custom Weissenborn-style guitar.

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Taylor 814ce DLX

A deluxe edition of Taylor’s popular grand auditorium model.

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PRS Private Stock Tony McManus Signature Model

Peghead Nation’s Celtic Guitar instructor Tony McManus discusses and demonstrates his signature model guitar.

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Taylor’s Definitive Guide to Buying an Acoustic Guitar

Peghead Nation’s Teja Gerken highlights Taylor’s new guitar-buying resource with helpful examples and clips from recent guitar demonstrations.

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© Copyright 2024 PegheadNation.com

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● Courses

● Live Workshops

● Instructors

● Sample Lessons

● Play-along Tracks

● Notation Guide

● For Beginners

Instruments & Gear

● Instrument Demos

● Vintage Vault

● New Gear

● Fine Lutherie

● Workshops

● Advice

● Repertoire

● Recordings

● Events

● Breaking News

Featured Videos

● In The Studio

● Live Onstage

● Backroom

● New Products

● Inside Look

● Performances

● Partner Pages

© Copyright 2024 PegheadNation.com