Holiday Songs for Mandolin

with Aaron Weinstein

Live Workshop

About This Workshop

Aaron Weinstein’s Holiday Songs for Mandolin workshop is designed for intermediate-level mandolinists who want to get ready for the holiday season by learning classic chord melody–style arrangements of holiday melodies. 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. No jazz or improvisation background is needed.

Meet the Instructor

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). He was recently named as one of Downbeat magazine’s Rising Stars in the venerable publication’s 2019 critic’s poll.

Instructor Page

The Holiday Songs for Mandolin Workshop Includes:

Two great holiday classics each session, taught in chord-melody style, with clear arrangements that can be played with or without chords.
Accompaniment lessons for each song using easy chord voicings, giving you the tools to support singers or instrumentalists at holiday gatherings
Downloadable notation, tab, and chord charts
Six 90-minute live Zoom sessions, held weekly on Tuesday evenings, from 5 pm to 6:30 pm PST (8 pm to 9:30 pm EST), starting November 11, 2025
High-quality video recordings of each session, posted on Peghead Nation within a week, so you can review lessons and revisit them after the workshop concludes
Permanent access to all Holiday Songs for Mandolin Live Workshop materials, videos, notation/tab after the live sessions are over

Workshop fee of $225, participate live or view recordings on your own schedule.

Holiday Songs for Mandolin Workshop

Welcome to Holiday Songs for Mandolin

Aaron Weinstein’s Holiday Songs for Mandolin workshop is designed for intermediate-level mandolinists who want to get ready for the holiday season by learning classic holiday melodies, creative chord-melody arrangements, and elegant accompaniments. In this video, Aaron talks about what he’ll be teaching in the workshop.

Session 1: "Auld Lang Syne" and "Let It Snow"

In the first session of Holiday Songs for Mandolin Aaron takes a look at a chord melody arrangement of “Auld Lang Syne" as well as the classic, "Let it Snow," which uses more single lines with a few chords thrown in for good (optional) measure.

Session 2: "Silent Night" and "Blue Christmas"

In session 2 of Holiday Songs for Mandolin, Aaron will show you an arrangement of "Silent Night" that sprinkles in some chords, many emphasizing a ringing open G string. Then, you’ll look at the Elvis classic "Blue Christmas." Aaron’s arrangement includes the melody embellished with single-note lines.

Session 3: "The Christmas Song" and "Winter Wonderland"

In the third session of Holiday Songs for Mandolin, Aaron will take a look at an arrangement of "Winter Wonderland" that focuses on the melody and single-note variations. Then you’ll learn a chord melody arrangement of "The Christmas Song." For each song, you’ll also get a set of voicings for accompaniment.

Session 4, “Hark the Herald Angels Sing” and “S’Vivon”

In the fourth session of Holiday Songs for Mandolin, Aaron takes a look at a swinging single-note arrangement of the Hanukkah classic “S'vivon” and an accessible chord melody arrangement of “Hark the Herald Angels Sing.”

Session 5: “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas" and “The Hanukkah Song”

In the fifth session of Holiday Songs for Mandolin, Aaron will take a look at a single-note melody arrangement of “The Hanukkah Song” ("Hanukkah Oh Hanukkah") in which he focuses on rhythmic variations of the melody. Then he'll look at an arrangement of "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas" in which he'll sprinkle some chord melody techniques into a wonderfully active melody.

Session 6: "White Christmas" and "Jingle Bells"

For the final session of Holiday Songs for Mandolin, Aaron will take a look at a rhythmically driven arrangement of "White Christmas" inspired by Charlie Parker's rendition of the song. And because no holiday course would be complete without "Jingle Bells," he'll look at an arrangement of the song with a sprinkling of (optional) chord melody techniques.

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