New Live Workshop Series! Holiday Songs for Mandolin with Aaron Weinstein

Tune up for the season by learning arrangements of a dozen holiday classics, simple, beautiful versions of that you can play solo or in a group setting.

By: Dan Gabel

September 24, 2025

Yes, we’re getting out in front of the holidays, but for good reason! Peghead Nation is excited to announce a brand new six-session live Zoom workshop series, Holiday Songs for Mandolin with Aaron Weinstein. This workshop will get you tuned up for the season by learning classic chord melody–style arrangements of a dozen holiday melodies. As Aaron says in his workshop introduction video above, you’ll learn simple, beautiful versions of familiar songs that you can play solo or in a group setting, as well as chord voicings and backup ideas to support singers or other instruments. Holiday Songs for Mandolin is perfect for intermediate-level mandolinists who are comfortable with basic melody playing and closed chord forms. You don’t need to know jazz or improvisation for this workshop.

Whether you’re playing in a group, supporting a singer, or just want to bring some holiday cheer, these lessons will help you and your mandolin bring the holiday spirit! In the video above, Aaron describes how he’ll teach this workshop.

Sign up for Holiday Songs for Mandolin with Aaron Weinstein!

The six live Zoom sessions will be held every Tuesday from 5:00 to 6:30 pm PST (8:00 to 9:30 pm EST), starting on Tuesday, October 21, and ending on Tuesday, December 2, 2025 (two weeks between Sessions 5 and 6).

The fee for the six-part Holiday Songs for Mandolin series is $200 and consists of six 90-minute live Zoom workshops. Each live workshop will be recorded in high-quality video and audio and edited for viewing and study both during the course and after its conclusion. Live workshop registrants will retain permanent access to Holiday Songs for Mandolin as part of their Peghead Nation account after the live sessions are over, so you’ll be able to refresh your holiday repertoire every year!

Holiday Songs for Mandolin with Aaron Weinstein In Holiday Songs for Mandolin, Aaron will guide you through two familiar holiday classics in each live Zoom session. He’ll teach you simple, accessible arrangements of the melodies enhanced with simple chords. For players who prefer to focus just on the melody, Aaron’s arrangements will work without the chords. You’ll also learn accompaniment for each tune, including simple, functional chord voicings so you can provide tasteful backup for singers or other instrumentalists. Aaron’s teaching style emphasizes clarity and accessibility, so even if you’re new to chord melody playing or arranging, you’ll come away with arrangements of holiday classics that you can use right away in gatherings with family and friends.

Sign up for Holiday Songs for Mandolin with Aaron Weinstein!

About Aaron Weinstein

Called “a perfect musician” by jazz guitar legend, Bucky Pizzarelli, Aaron Weinstein “is rapidly establishing himself as one of his instrument’s rare jazz masters.” (Don Heckman, International Review of Music). Aaron is a respected violinist and mandolinist, widely regarded as one of the mandolin’s leading exponents in the jazz idiom, and author of the jazz mandolin book Mandolin Chord Melody System (Mel Bay Publications).

As a featured soloist, Aaron has performed at Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, Jazz at Lincoln Center, Birdland, Blue Note, as well as at jazz festivals in England, France, Iceland, Israel, and Switzerland. He has performed and recorded with an array of jazz icons including Les Paul, Bucky Pizzarelli, John Pizzarelli, Dick Hyman, Dave Frishberg, Jon Hendricks, and Annie Ross, as well as musicians as varied as New York Pops conductor Skitch Henderson and rock guitarist Jay Geils. He has written arrangements for vocalists such as Christine Ebersole, Linda Lavin, and the Manhattan Transfer’s Janis Siegel. Aaron is a recipient of both the New York City Bistro and New York City Nightlife Awards.

With the release of his Arbors Records debut, A Handful of Stars (heralded as “the rebirth of the hot jazz violin” by Nat Hentoff of the Wall Street Journal), Aaron became the youngest jazz musician to record for the prestigious label. He is a graduate of the Berklee College of Music, where he was awarded a full four-year talent-based scholarship. He was recently named as one of Downbeat’s Rising Stars in the venerable publication’s 2019 critic’s poll, and his recent album 3×3 features Aaron on violin, Peghead Nation instructor Matt Munisteri on guitar, and Tom Hubbard on bass, and is the perfect illustration of the beauty of simplicity.