New Lessons for October 2026
Peghead Nation instructors have hours of new lessons, tunes, and techniques for you!
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 2026. Join us in any course and get your first month free. Just use promo code Learn26 at checkout!
GUITAR COURSES
Norman Blake-Style Guitar with Greg Schochet
“Nobody’s Business” Etude: Greg focuses on Norman Blake’s intro to “Nobody’s Business” to build a versatile etude that works as both a kickoff to this particular song and as a solid solo for any number of songs with the same progression.
Irish Guitar with John Doyle
Jig Picking: In this lesson, John delves deeper into picking and strumming techniques for accompanying jigs (aka double jigs) and slip jigs without worrying about tracking chord changes for the fretting hand on a particular tune.
Contemporary Flatpicking Guitar with Grant Gordy
Different Kinds of G-Runs: Fundamentally, the G-run is just two notes, but Grant shows you how to build on that kernel and learn variations played by bluegrass guitar legends like Lester Flatt, Del McCoury, Clarence White, and Tony Rice.
Irish Flatpicking Guitar with Flynn Cohen
The Honeymoon: Playing this great reel in the key of G on the guitar requires some gentle shifts into second and third position. Melodic ornaments include left-hand cuts and rolls and picked triplets.
Western Swing Guitar with Matt Munisteri
“I Had Someone Else Before I Had You” Alex Brashear Solo: There’s a lot to be learned from dissecting solos by instrumentalists other than guitarists, and this solo from the great Texas Playboys trumpeter Alex Brashear is a perfect way to start.
MANDOLIN COURSES
Weekly Mandolin Workout with Ethan Setiawan
“Fly Me to the Moon” Chords: Ethan’s next lessons will focus on different aspects of the jazz and swing classic “Fly Me to the Moon,” starting with four different ways to voice the chord progression in various positions and degrees of complexity.
Monroe-Style Mandolin with Mike Compton
Devil’s Dream: Monroe’s mandolin solo on this venerable classic is a bare-bones statement of the melody with a lot of staccato downstrokes. The tune is almost universally played in the key of A, and this version is no exception.
Gypsy Jazz Mandolin Essentials with Aaron Weinstein
It Had to Be You: A hot 1939 recording by Django Reinhardt and Stéphane Grappelli set the bar for the gypsy jazz scene on this classic in the key of G. After reviewing the chord structure, Aaron shows you his melody-driven solo arrangement.
The Advancing Mandolinist with Joe K. Walsh
“Last Letter Home” Sam Bush Solo: In this lesson, you’ll learn an elegant intro and solo played by Sam Bush on this poignant song. Bush plays it in the key of F, mostly in the second position, with lots of tremolo and double stops.
Octave Mandolin with Joe K. Walsh
Over the Waterfall: This relatively straightforward melody in the key of D comes from Virginia fiddler Henry Reed. One of its distinctive charms is a flatted seventh note in the seventh bar of the A part, which is typically accompanied with a C chord.
FIDDLE COURSES
Jazz Violin with Aaron Weinstein
Djangology: Aaron’s arrangement of this Hot Club standard leans heavily into arpeggios that follow the chord progression, but also includes rhythmic displacements, dotted quarter notes, and short, punchy phrases give it zing.
Old-Time Fiddle with Bruce Molsky
Horses in the Canebreak: Here’s a great tune in the key of G from Kentucky fiddler Jake Phelps has a basic AABB format, but the parts are just four bars long, so the whole tune comes out at 16 bars—half the length of a standard old-time fiddle tune.
BANJO COURSES
Beginning Banjo by Ear with BB Bowness
Goodbye Liza Jane: In the course of teaching this classic, BB introduces a couple of new techniques, including the drop-thumb roll and a voicing of a C chord that requires moving up the neck to the fifth position.
Creating Bluegrass Banjo Solos with Bill Evans
Wild Bill Jones: For bluegrassers, versions of this old murder ballad by the Stanley Brothers and Alison Krauss and Union Station are probably the most familiar. Bill’s version is in the key of G using a “modal” scale with blue notes.
Clawhammer Banjo with Evie Ladin
Tennessee Mountain Fox Chase: In this month’s lesson is a three-part “crooked” tune in the key of C from Tennessee fiddler J.D. “Dudley” Vance. It’s played in double-C tuning and requires some movement up and down the fingerboard.
BASS COURSES
Intermediate Bass with Zoe Guigueno
River Man: This month you’ll learn another great Danny Thompson bass part, this time on Nick Drake’s “River Man.” The unusual chord structure is relatively simple and repetitive, and Zoe demystifies the intriguing 5/4 rhythm pattern.
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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