New Lessons for October 2025
Peghead Nation instructors have new lessons, techniques, and tunes to keep your musical journey on track!
Peghead Nation instructors have released hours of new instruction in their courses, and here are the tunes and lessons we’ve just published for October 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
“The Eighth of February” with No Capo: Grant shows you how to play “The Eighth of February” in the key of A without a capo. The melody and chords are the same as last month’s lesson, but the handshapes, fingering, and picking are different.
Irish Flatpicking Guitar with Flynn Cohen
Around the Fairy Fort: This month’s tune is a lovely three-part barndance in the key of D. Barndances came into favor in the early 20th century and are typically played more like a march than a reel, with a bit more swing and bounce.
Western Swing Guitar with Matt Munisteri
Boot Heel Drag: “Boot Heel Drag” is an instrumental written by steel guitarist Herb Remington and recorded by Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys. You’ll learn the introduction, melody, triple guitar/mandolin solo section, and “drag” part played by the steel guitar.
MANDOLIN COURSES
Beginning Mandolin with Sharon Gilchrist
Kickoffs: Sharon demonstrates some surefire approaches to starting a song, and teaches you ways to count and call out or play a kickoff that will lead the band into a unified entry on a variety of different instrumentals and vocal songs.
Weekly Mandolin Workout with Ethan Setiawan
Jig Picking: This month, Ethan’s workouts focus on picking in 6/8 time. The most familiar tunes in this rhythm are called jigs, which are common in traditional Celtic repertories. Ethan’s lessons will get you up to speed with this kind of picking.
Monroe-Style Mandolin with Mike Compton
I Found the Way: Mike teaches the version of this song that Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys recorded for I’ll See You in Church on Sunday Morning. Monroe kicks off the song and plays two solos, and Mike walks you through all three parts.
Gypsy Jazz Mandolin Essentials with Aaron Weinstein
Rosetta: This standard was composed by pianist and bandleader Earl “Fatha” Hines. YouTube has recordings by Django Reinhardt, Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys, and a solo piano version by Hines himself. Aaron teaches the tune in the key of F.
The Advancing Mandolinist with Joe K. Walsh
Fanny Hill: Joe teaches David Grisman’s perky “Fanny Hill” this month. The tune is in AAB format, with a repeating eight-bar A part and a single 10-bar B part. Like many Grisman tunes, “Fanny Hill” has an ambiguous tonality and blends several modes.
Bluegrass Mandolin Fingerboard Method with Sharon Gilchrist
John Henry: With an unusual 20-bar form, a simple melody, and few chord changes, “John Henry” is often played at a fast clip. Sharon shows you a great version with a closed left-hand position in the key of G up at the fifth fret.
Octave Mandolin with Joe K. Walsh
Maiden’s Prayer: “Maiden’s Prayer” was a signature piece for Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys, and it’s still a standard today. The 16-bar tune is in the key of A, but Joe plays it with a capo on the second fret as if it were in the key of G.
FIDDLE COURSES
Jazz Violin with Aaron Weinstein
Just Friends: In this session, you’ll learn how to use common tones between chords for improvising. Aaron shows you how to apply the concept to a solo for “Just Friends,” a popular song from the early 1930s. You’ll learn it in the key of G.
Folk and Bluegrass Songs with Lauren Rioux
Miss McLeod’s Reel: This classic is a perfect study to practice closed hand-shape playing position all over your fiddle and practice playing in new-to-you keys. This month you’ll learn to play it in the keys of A, Bb, B, and C.
Old-Time Fiddle with Bruce Molsky
Min Fogal’s Waltz: This month, Bruce shares a lovely two-part waltz in the key of G. Canadian fiddlers John Arcand and Calvin Vollrath composed the tune, and you can find several versions on YouTube, including Vollrath himself performing it.
BANJO COURSES
Clawhammer Banjo with Evie Ladin
Chips and Sauce: Dancer and fiddler Ira Bernstein’s sprightly “Chips and Sauce” is a hot favorite with the old-time crowd. The relatively straightforward two-part tune in the key of A has an unusual twist in that it starts on a vi chord (F#min).
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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