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Mandolin Courses

 
Whether you're just starting out or have been playing mandolin for years, Peghead Nation has courses to help you develop your eight-string prowess. From beginning to advanced mandolin lessons with some of the finest mandolinists in roots music, you can delve into bluegrass, old-time, Irish, and other styles, building your repertoire of tunes and filling out your toolbox of techniques as you go. See introduction videos of all of our mandolin courses below, and check out free sample lessons as well. Enjoy!
 
Available Mandolin Courses
 
Beginning Mandolin
with Sharon Gilchrist
 
difficulty 1
Beginner
• 27 Lessons
• 16 Tunes
 
Get started off right on the mandolin, with basic techniques, scales and chords, and simple and popular bluegrass and old-time tunes to play. Includes downloadable Play-Along audio practice tracks for rhythm and melody on all tunes, advice on embellishing melodies and playing tremolo, and more.
 
 
Theory for Mandolin and Fiddle
with Chad Manning
 
difficulty 2
Beginner / Intermediate
• 43 Lessons
• 6 Tunes
 
Learn the basics of music theory as it relates to four-string instruments tuned in fifths. Chad’s practical approach will deepen your knowledge of chords, scales, and arpeggios, and help you integrate them into your playing.
 
 
Bluegrass Mandolin Fingerboard Method
with Sharon Gilchrist
 
difficulty 3
Intermediate
• 23 Lessons
• 21 Tunes
 
Learn to play solos to any bluegrass song in any key with Sharon's intermediate-level method for learning the fingerboard, based on arpeggios, chop-chord shapes, and double stops.
 
 
Bluegrass Mandolin Jam Favorites
with Joe K. Walsh
 
difficulty 3
Intermediate
• 58 Lessons
• 57 Tunes
 
Learn the essential instrumental  tunes you’ll encounter at bluegrass jam sessions everywhere. Designed for intermediate level mandolinists, with tunes, techniques, and solos from mandolin greats.
 
 
Old-Time Mandolin
with John Reischman
 
difficulty 3
Intermediate
• 44 Lessons
• 42 Tunes
 
Learn to play old-time fiddle tunes and song melodies with mandolin master John Reischman. Includes advice on picking technique and playing old-time rhythm on the mandolin.
 
 
Intermediate Bluegrass Mandolin
with Sharon Gilchrist
 
difficulty 4
Intermediate / Advanced
• 77 Lessons
• 58 Tunes
 
Learn to play solos on classic bluegrass songs and instrumentals using bluegrass mandolin techniques like tremolo, double stops, two-string melodies, and more.
 
 
Irish Mandolin
with Marla Fibish
 
difficulty 4
Intermediate / Advanced
• 89 Lessons
• 81 Tunes
 
Learn traditional Irish mandolin, with an emphasis on playing the dance music of Ireland with an authentic Irish feel and rhythm.
 
 
Gypsy Jazz Mandolin Essentials
with Aaron Weinstein
 
difficulty 3
Intermediate
• 19 Lessons
• 18 Tunes
 
Learn to play swing and jazz mandolin from scratch, with a step-by-step method for learning swing chord voicings, as well as simple, swingin’, melody-based solos for some of the most popular songs in the jazz and swing repertoire. Designed for newcomers to playing jazz and swing.
 
 
Monroe-Style Mandolin
with Mike Compton
 
difficulty 4
Intermediate / Advanced
• 113 Lessons
• 106 Tunes
 
Learn traditional bluegrass-style mandolin as exemplified by the father of bluegrass, Bill Monroe, with original transcribed solos and tips on reproducing Monroe’s sound, rhythm, and feel.
 
 
Melodic Mandolin Tunes
with John Reischman
 
difficulty 4
Intermediate / Advanced
• 64 Lessons
• 61 Tunes
 
Learn great traditional and original tunes in a variety of styles—old-time, bluegrass, Latin, jazz, and more—from a modern mandolin master.
 
 
The Advancing Mandolinist
with Joe K. Walsh
 
difficulty 4
Intermediate / Advanced
• 127 Lessons
• 125 Tunes
 
Explore all the modern mandolin techniques, from tremolo, chords and double stops, and soloing and improvisation tips, with plenty of bluegrass, old-time and swing tunes to keep you moving forward.
 
 
Chord Melody Mandolin
with Aaron Weinstein
 
difficulty 5
Advanced
• 72 Lessons
• 57 Tunes
 
Learn how to combine chords and melody to play jazz standards in the style pioneered by jazz mandolinist Jethro Burns and guitarists like Joe Pass and Bucky Pizzarelli.
 
 
Weekly Mandolin Workout
with Ethan Setiawan
 
difficulty 4
Intermediate / Advanced
• 13 Lessons
• 6 Tunes
 
This series of workouts will help mandolinists learn the fingerboard, strengthen and increase the dexterity of their fingers, and expand their knowledge of chord and scale theory, with advice on picking and fretting techniques.
 
 
Swing and Jazz Mandolin
with Joe K. Walsh
 
difficulty 4
Intermediate / Advanced
• 25 Lessons
• 21 Tunes
 
Learn to play swing and jazz melodies and classic solos from jazz legends like Lester Young, Miles Davis, and Django Reinhardt, as well as swing mandolinists like Tiny Moore and Jethro Burns. For each song, you’ll learn the melody and a solo, along with tips on technique, phrasing, and improvisation.
 
 
Octave Mandolin
with Joe K. Walsh
 
difficulty 4
Intermediate / Advanced
• 43 Lessons
• 41 Tunes
 
Learn to transfer what you know on the mandolin to its bigger cousin and how to exploit the octave mandolin’s potential for more complex, guitar-oriented accompaniment styles. For intermediate mandolin, fiddle, or guitar players with a basic knowledge of their instrument.
 
 
Brazilian Choro Mandolin
with Ian Coury
 
difficulty 4
Intermediate / Advanced
• 25 Lessons
• 22 Tunes
 
Learn to play Brazilian choro music on the mandolin with young Brazilian virtuoso Ian Coury, from the classic sounds of Jacob do Bandolim to the modern style of Hamilton Holanda. Includes play-along tracks with Ian’s Brazilian backing band.
 
 
Melodic Embellishment
with Sharon Gilchrist
 
difficulty 3
Intermediate
• 9 Lessons
• 7 Tunes
 
In this workshop, Sharon will use common bluegrass and old-time tunes like “Old Joe Clark,” “Whiskey Before Breakfast,” “June Apple,” “Angeline the Baker,” and more to demonstrate her method for teaching students how to embellish and vary melodies as a way to begin to improvise.
 
 
Improvising for Mandolin and Fiddle
with Joe K. Walsh
 
difficulty 4
Intermediate / Advanced
• 9 Lessons
• 8 Tunes
 
Learn to improvise on fiddle tunes, create new melodies over chord changes, practice the arpeggios and scales you need to play jazz tunes, and more. Joe lays out his approach to improvising and practicing improvising, with exercises and solos that illustrate his unique, widely acclaimed, freewheeling style.
 
 
Swing Mandolin: Rhythm and Chord Solos
with Aaron Weinstein
 
difficulty 3
Intermediate
• 9 Lessons
• 8 Tunes
 
Learn to play swing rhythm mandolin and how to create rhythmic chord solos, using eight classic jazz and swing tunes, with one of the world’s greatest swing mandolinists, Aaron Weinstein.
 
 
Live Workshop
Creative Mandolin Backup
with Sharon Gilchrist
 
difficulty 3
Intermediate
mandolin icon
 
Sharon Gilchrist’s Creative Mandolin Backup workshop is designed for intermediate-level mandolinists who want to develop their rhythm and backup beyond the basic mandolin chord forms and chop or boom-chick rhythm. With easy-to-grasp applied theory concepts and instruction in using chord inversions.
 
 
 

Mandolin Performances

 
 
 
Three Peghead Nation mandolin instructors play a bluegrass classic at Great Lakes Music Camp.
 
 
 
Peghead Nation fiddle instructor Chad Manning plays a traditional song with his band that includes siblings Jasper and Jayda Manning, Tyler Stengall, and Mark Schatz.
 
 
 
Our jazz mandolin instructor plays a great two-mandolin arrangement of the Gershwin song “A Foggy Day.”
 
 
 
We’d love to hear what you’ve learned on Peghead Nation. Record a video of your playing and share it with us on our social media channels to help celebrate our 10th!
 
 
 
The virtuosic four-piece that includes Peghead instructors Joe K. Walsh and Grant Gordy showcases their playful arrangement of a Beatles classic.
 
 
 
Peghead Nation mandolin instructor plays a beautiful tune with fiddler and duo partner in Hildland, Louise Bichan.
 
 
 
The flatpicker, songwriter, and singer performs the title track to her Grammy-winning album at the Fox Theater in Oakland, California.
 
 
 
Our Monroe-Style Mandolin instructor Mike Compton plays a Bill Monroe classic with his duo partner, Joe Newberry.
 
 
 
Mike Compton plays a powerful original song with his long-time duo partner Joe Newberry.
 
 
 

Mandolin Demos

 
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Peghead Nation co-founder Dan Gabel and instructor Joe K. Walsh demonstrate Northfield’s popular octave mandolin.
 
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Joe K. Walsh demonstrates eight of his favorite picks, including picks from Apollo, Bluebird, BlueChip, D’Andrea, and Wegen.
 
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Joe K. Walsh demonstrates using Shubb’s yoke-style capo on a Northfield octave mandolin.
 
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Peghead Nation instructor demonstrates the Northfield F5S and other gear that he uses on tour.
 
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Peghead Nation’s Brazilian Choro Mandolin instructor Ian Coury demonstrates eight-string and ten-string mandolins and discusses their roles in Brazilian music.
 
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Peghead Nation’s Brazilian Choro Mandolin instructor Ian Coury demonstrates his main instrument and talks about the history of the mandolin in Brazilian music.
 
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Dan Bui demonstrates a Lloyd Loar-style F5 from Northfield Mandolins at the Music Emporium.
 
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Aaron Weinstein demonstrates his new jazz mandolin.
 
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Joe K. Walsh demonstrates his vintage mandola, which he set up with an old DeArmond pickup for playing electric.
 
 
 

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spotify icon facebook icon instagram icon twitter icon youtube icon newsletter icon
    ● Courses
    ● Live Workshops
    ● Instructors
    ● Sample Lessons
    ● Notation Guide
    ● For Beginners
 
 
    ● Vintage Vault
    ● New Gear
    ● Fine Lutherie
 
 
    ● Workshops
    ● Advice
    ● Repertoire
 
 
    ● Recordings
    ● Events
    ● Breaking News
 
 
    ● In The Studio
    ● Live Onstage
    ● Backroom
 
 
    ● New Products
    ● Inside Look
    ● Performances
    ● Partner Pages
 
Peghead Nation logo
 
© Copyright 2024 PegheadNation.com