New Lessons for August 2025
New Tunes, Lessons, and Techniques from Peghead Nation instructors.
Peghead Nation instructors have released hours of new instruction in their courses, and here are the tunes and lessons we’ve just published for August 2025. Join us in any course and get your first month free. Just use promo code Learn25 at checkout!
GUITAR COURSES
Contemporary Flatpicking Guitar with Grant Gordy
Metronome Exercises: In this lesson, Grant shows you how to use different pulse patterns on a metronome to build your listening skills and improve your internal sense of timing and rhythm as you play through a familiar chord progression.
Irish Flatpicking Guitar with Flynn Cohen
The Mountain Top: This popular session tune is a punchy single reel in the key of G. Flynn learned this version from fiddler Tina Lech, and he ornaments the basic melody with some traditional right- and left-hand ornaments adapted for the guitar.
Western Swing Guitar with Matt Munisteri
I Found a Dream: “I Found a Dream” was recorded by Bob Wills in 1941 and appeared on the 1970s LP set The Bob Wills Anthology. Matt shows you a chord melody version in this lesson that makes for a nice stand-alone setting.
MANDOLIN COURSES
Beginning Mandolin with Sharon Gilchrist
Shady Grove: “Shady Grove” is a classic American folk song that likely originated in the 1800s. Sharon teaches you a version of “Shady Grove” in the key of D minor that is similar to the way Jerry Garcia and David Grisman played it on The Pizza Tapes.
Weekly Mandolin Workout with Ethan Setiawan
The Mixolydian Mode: Ethan’s workouts this month focus on understanding the Mixolydian mode. You’ll learn a number of Mixolydian scale patterns and then tackle “Shaking Down the Acorns,” a great fiddle tune in the key of A Mixolydian.
Swing and Jazz Mandolin with Joe K. Walsh
How High the Moon: This classic was a hit for Benny Goodman and later for Les Paul and Mary Ford. In this lesson, Joe introduces a solo by electric mandolinist and fiddler Tiny Moore, who played with Bob Wills and The Texas Playboys in the 1940s.
Monroe-Style Mandolin with Mike Compton
How Will I Explain About You?: Bill Monroe recorded this waltz in 1946 and then again in 1962 for his Bluegrass Special album. His solo includes two-note pickups into tremolo slides up to the third position with phrasing that mimics the vocal line.
Gypsy Jazz Mandolin Essentials with Aaron Weinstein
Swing 42: Django Reinhardt recorded “Swing 42” with the Quintet of the Hot Club of France in 1941. In this lesson, Aaron shows you the chord progression and a melody-based solo for this evergreen tune. It starts in the key of C and moves to E for the bridge.
The Advancing Mandolinist with Joe K. Walsh
Chinese Breakdown: Joe teaches this old standard based on the way Dominick Leslie played the melody in the key of C on a recent Tony Trischka album. The tune structure is AABB, with the first part twice as long as the second part.
Bluegrass Mandolin Fingerboard Method with Sharon Gilchrist
“I’ll Fly Away,” Descending Riff Using Sixths: Using “I’ll Fly Away” as a matrix for building a descending transition riff, Sharon teaches a new scale pattern using intervals a sixth below the root notes.
Octave Mandolin with Joe K. Walsh
Here on Earth: Guitarist Russ Barenberg penned “Here on Earth,” which he recorded with Jerry Douglas and Edgar Meyer on their album Skip, Hop & Wobble. This laid-back tune in the key of D works nicely as a solo piece.
FIDDLE COURSES
Folk and Bluegrass Songs with Lauren Rioux
Sitting Alone in the Moonlight: Bill Monroe’s waltz-time song was one of his biggest hits and remains a standard in the bluegrass world. This month, Lauren shows you the melody, chords, and ideas for soloing in the keys of Bb and A.
Old-Time Fiddle with Bruce Molsky
Boatsman: 19th-century minstrel entertainer Dan Emmett’s “The Boatsman’s Dance” spawned many subsequent fiddle tunes. Bruce teaches a lovely setting that comes by way of Ed Haley and features intricate bowing and expressive phasing.
BANJO COURSES
Clawhammer Banjo with Evie Ladin
The Alabama Waltz: In this lesson, Evie teaches you how to approach this Hank Williams country classic on the banjo. Starting with how to get a good waltz groove with your right hand. She also explores playing the song in four different keys.
PLAY-ALONG RHYTHM TRACKS – Available to all subscribers. Guitar accompaniment video, downloadable audio, and chord charts for popular bluegrass, old-time, and roots tunes and songs.
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