Tony McManus is one of the greatest Celtic guitarists of all time, equally adept at fingerstyle and flatpicking, and an astonishingly diverse fingerstyle guitarist. His repertoire includes Irish airs, Scottish reels, French and Spanish Celtic tunes, and even the odd Charles Mingus tune. In this month’s Advanced Fingerstyle Workshop, Tony talks about playing the traditional “Shallow Brown,” using an arrangement based on Martin Simpson’s version of the piece. Using C G C G C D tuning, Tony shows how to combine an arpeggiated chord accompaniment pattern with the melody, and how to use effective dynamics in the performance of the tune. Subscribe now to this String School course for access to these videos and more from other contemporary fingerstyle virtuosos. And learn more about Tony at tonymcmanus.com.

A Toye for Two Lutes Teja Gerken and Flynn Cohen play a John Renbourn-inspired duet of a Renaissance lute piece. Read More

Stevie Coyle: “Walking in the Air” Peghead Nation’s Fingerstyle Guitar instructor plays his arrangement of the holiday favorite from the 1982 film “The Snowman.” Read More

Teja Gerken, Doug Young, Marla Fibish, and Bruce Victor: “Here Comes the Sun” An acoustic quartet arrangement of the Beatles classic. Read More

Steve Baughman: “Falls of Richmond” Peghead Nation clawhammer guitar instructor plays an old-time fiddle tune. Read More

Orville Johnson: “Salty Dog Blues” Peghead Nation’s fingerstyle blues instructor plays a Mississippi John Hurt–inspired version of the traditional song. Read More

Adam Miller: “Parker” Advanced Fingerstyle Workshop instructor plays his original composition on a Ken Parker archtop. Read More

Steve Baughman: “Home Sweet Home” Peghead Nation clawhammer guitar instructor plays an American folk classic. Read More

Steve Baughman: “Hard Times” Peghead Nation clawhammer guitar instructor plays a Stephen Foster favorite. Read More

Tony McManus: “Roslin Castle/Vigo” Peghead Nation Celtic Guitar instructor plays a medley of Scottish and Galician tunes. Read More

Orville Johnson: “Let the Mermaids Flirt with Me” Peghead Nation to launch new Fingerstyle Blues Guitar course on September 1. Read More