Bluegrass Learning Pathway
Learn the language of bluegrass guitar.
Late beginners
If you’re comfortable with open chords, basic rhythms, and the major scale, you’re in the right place.
3 months
Andrew Brozek will guide you through six grades of instruction with daily practice plans and assessments.
Bluegrass fluency
This class will help you build pro-level bluegrass skills from the ground up and prepare you to jam with other musicians.
Take the next step
Keep your momentum going with advanced classes and guided pathways to push your playing further.
What you'll learn
In this guided Learning Pathway, you’ll develop essential rhythm, lead, and ensemble skills to play popular bluegrass songs on your own and with other musicians.
- Level up your picking skills
- Improve your rhythm and feel
- Train your ears and start soloing
Curriculum
Stay focused with this step-by-step learning program designed by our expert team of music educators.
Your guided Learning Pathway
In this 3-month program, Andrew Brozek guides you step by step through the essential building blocks of bluegrass guitar. Each grade builds on the last with focused exercises and interactive jams, helping you develop fundamental rhythm and leads skills while learning classic bluegrass repertoire along the way.
Get Pickin’
Every bluegrass legend started from the beginning.
To kick off the class, you’ll lay a foundation with core bluegrass rhythms and lead techniques.
This is where you'll learn skills like the boom-chuck rhythm, alternate picking, and the Nashville number system.
How to Jam
Jamming with others is the heart and soul of bluegrass.
In this grade, you’ll start preparing for your first jam with other musicians.
You’ll learn how each instrument functions in the band, as well as how to lead and follow songs so you always stay locked into the groove.
Bluegrass Techniques
Bluegrass is a highly technical but incredibly rewarding genre.
In Grade 3, you’ll level up your picking and fretting mechanics.
You’ll hone skills like crosspicking, legato, and shifting between positions to play faster and more precisely.
Grade 4. Study the Greats
Take inspiration from some of the most important names in bluegrass guitar, including Tony Rice, Doc Watson, Molly Tuttle, and Billy Strings. You’ll study the ideas behind their playing and apply them to real tunes.
Grade 5. Rhythm
Next, you’ll become the beating heart of the band. Build on your boom-chuck skills with concepts like walking basslines, rhythmic density, and advanced chord voicings.
Grade 6. Lead
To wrap up the class, you’ll step out by learning how to solo and improvise like a pro. You'll map out your fretboard and work on finding melodies in multiple positions around the neck so you can solo more creatively and melodically.
Grade 1. Get Pickin’
In this grade, Andrew introduces you to the foundational rhythm in bluegrass: the boom-chuck. You’ll also develop skills like proper picking technique, using the number system to communicate with fellow musicians, and shaping your tone with your pick.
Day 1. The boom-chuck
Learn the train-like rhythmic feel at the heart of bluegrass guitar by pairing bass notes with crisp strums.
Day 2. Intro to lead playing
Learn your first bluegrass melody with Will the Circle Be Unbroken and connect lead playing to the major scale. You’ll also learn a fun G run line inspired by Lester Flatt.
Day 3. The most important lead bluegrass technique
Develop the essential skill for playing faster: alternate picking. Zero in on your picking technique by learning how to hold and angle your pick for maximum efficiency.
Day 4. Open-position scales
Just three scales = all of bluegrass. Andrew will introduce you to the three foundational bluegrass scales in open position so you can start playing real songs right away.
Day 5. Know your tools (picks)
Like a good craftsman, musicians need to know their tools inside and out. In your case, that’s the guitar and pick. You’ll learn about what guitars, strings, and picks bluegrass musicians prefer and how these tools impact your sound.
Day 6. The Nashville number system and capos
Learn the language professional musicians use to communicate with each other and producers: the Nashville number system. You’ll also learn how to use a capo to play in any key using the chord shapes you already know.
Day 7. Arkansas Traveler
Put the week’s skills into action with a classic fiddle tune you’re likely to hear in a jam.
Performance pieces
Choose a song to learn that takes what you worked on in Grade 1 and puts it in a musical context. Here, you'll get to jam with a live-recorded band of professional L.A. musicians as your backing track.
Personalized feedback
Submit a video of yourself playing a performance piece from this grade for custom video feedback on your playing from our team of pro guitarists.
Final quiz
Make sure you're ready to move on to Grade 2.
Grade 2. How to Jam
In this grade, you’ll prepare for your first jam session. Learn about the roles of each instrument, how to lead and follow a song, and how to find melodies by ear.
Day 1. Roles
See how guitar, bass, mandolin, banjo, and fiddle each contribute to the rhythm and arrangement of a bluegrass band. You’ll step into the musical shoes of other musicians to get a better understanding of how guitar fits in.
Day 2. Leading a song
One of the most exciting parts of jamming with others is leading a song. In this lesson, you’ll practice the physical and musical cues that help a band follow you – from body language to harmonic signals.
Day 3. Following a song
Get comfortable jumping into unfamiliar tunes by sitting back and watching fellow musicians, listening to the quality of chords, and finding the key to a song.
Day 4. Dynamics
Learn how to be sonically considerate at jams and serve each song using careful dynamic control.
Day 5. Finding melodies
Dip your toes into the world of soloing by training your ears to find a melody. Andrew offers a 4-step method for finding the melody to any song, which you’ll apply to Bury Me Beneath the Willow.
Day 6. Metronome bootcamp
Know the rhythm. Love the rhythm. Become the rhythm. Use a metronome and different subdivisions to develop a stronger internal sense of time.
Day 7. Big Sciota
Finish the grade with a bluegrass standard that puts your listening, timing, and dynamic skills to the test.
Performance pieces
Choose a song to learn that takes what you worked on in Grade 2 and puts it in a musical context. Here, you'll get to jam with a live-recorded band of pro L.A. musicians as your backing track.
Personalized feedback
Submit a video of yourself playing a performance piece from this grade for custom video feedback on your playing from our team of pro guitarists.
Final quiz
Make sure you're ready to move on to Grade 3.
Grade 3. Bluegrass Techniques
In this grade, you’ll fine-tune your technique to become a more expressive and intentional bluegrass guitarist. You'll learn how to integrate hammer-ons and pull-offs, slides, and crosspicking into your playing.
Day 1. Crosspicking
Learn three banjo-inspired roll patterns to create flowing melodies and more interesting rhythmic texture.
Day 2. Hammer-ons
Learn how to play faster with fewer pick strokes using hammer-ons. This will also help you create smoother and more expressive phrasing.
Day 3. 16th-note triplet hammer-ons
Learn how to combine hammer-ons and triplets, bluegrass style. This is a great technique for adding momentum to the intro of a song.
Day 4. Pull-offs
Meet the hammer-on’s evil cousin: the pull-off. Like hammer-ons, pull-offs help you add more expression to your lines and play faster.
Day 5. Shifting
It can be difficult moving between scale positions across the fretboard smoothly. That’s why Andrew’s got some techniques that can help you shift seamlessly.
Day 6. Escape notes
Learn how to use open notes as a quick escape when you need to make a super quick shift between positions.
Day 7. 3rds
Learn how to play 3rd double stops – a fantastic tool for harmonizing your melody notes and outlining chords.
Performance pieces
Choose a song to learn that takes what you worked on in Grade 3 and puts it in a musical context. Here, you'll get to jam with a live-recorded band of pro L.A. musicians as your backing track.
Personalized feedback
Submit a video of yourself playing a performance piece from this grade for custom video feedback on your playing from our team of pro guitarists.
Final quiz
Make sure you're ready to move on to Grade 4.
Grades 4-6
In these last grades, you’ll study bluegrass masters, upgrade your rhythm playing, and develop a fuller understanding of the fretboard.
Grade 4. Study the Greats
In this grade, you’ll learn the techniques used by some of the most influential players in bluegrass history. You’ll then apply these techniques to real bluegrass songs to expand your own voice.
Day 1. Tony Rice
Study the phrasing and technique of Tony Rice. You’ll leave this lesson with a few Tony Rice-inspired licks you can use in your own playing.
Day 2. Doc Watson
Work on flatpicking, rhythm-infused lead playing, and melodic ideas rooted in Doc’s classic approach.
Day 3. Norman Blake
Learn from Norman Blake’s freight train-like playing that combines rhythm and single-note lines to propel every song forward.
Day 4. Chris Eldridge
Inject some modern ideas into bluegrass by studying Chris Eldridge’s innovative playing.
Day 5. Bryan Sutton
Hone your shredding skills with one of bluegrass’s most sought-after guitarists.
Day 6. Molly Tuttle
Step into the shoes of Molly Tuttle and work on skills like bending, incorporating blue notes, and crosspicking.
Day 7. Billy Strings
Step way outside the box with bluegrass’s most innovative guitarist. You’ll leave this lesson with a few Billy Strings-inspired licks you can use to create dissonance within your own lines.
Performance pieces
Choose a song to learn that takes what you worked on in Grade 4 and puts it in a musical context. Here, you'll get to jam with a live-recorded band of pro L.A. musicians as your backing track.
Personalized feedback
Submit a video of yourself playing a performance piece from this grade for custom video feedback on your playing from our team of pro guitarists.
Final quiz
Make sure you're ready to move on to Grade 5.
Grade 5. Rhythm
In this grade, you’ll step up your rhythm game with concepts like alternating and walking basslines, advanced voicings, and approach chords.
Day 1. Alternating basslines
Go beyond root notes and start using 3rds and 5ths to add movement and depth to your boom-chuck.
Day 2. Walking basslines
Connect chords with diatonic and chromatic movement that propels the song and signals chord changes to your bandmates.
Day 3. Varying rhythmic density
Fill out the rhythm with upstrokes and different boom-chuck variations. Change the feel of a song without losing the pulse.
Day 4. Crosspicking rhythm
Combine the boom-chuck and crosspicking to create a more layered sound when holding down the rhythm. This technique works great solo and in a band setting.
Day 5. Approach chords
Add dominant chords and passing harmony to make simple progressions more colorful and flowing.
Day 6. Advanced voicings
Add some sophistication to your progressions with richer chord shapes and Tony Rice-inspired harmonic color.
Day 7. Blackberry Blossom
Close the grade with a classic tune that blends G major and E minor sensibilities.
Performance pieces
Choose a song to learn that takes what you worked on in Grade 5 and puts it in a musical context. Here, you'll get to jam with a live-recorded band of pro L.A. musicians as your backing track.
Personalized feedback
Submit a video of yourself playing a performance piece from this grade for custom video feedback on your playing from our team of pro guitarists.
Final quiz
Make sure you're ready to move on to Grade 6.
Grade 6. Lead
In this final grade, you’ll dial in your lead playing by mapping your fretboard, targeting chord tones, and even including notes from outside the scale.
Day 1. Mapping the fretboard
Use triads and inversions to navigate the fretboard and play chords anywhere on the neck.
Day 2. Chord tones
Outline chord changes more clearly by targeting the root, 3rd, and 5th on strong beats in your solos.
Day 3. 6ths
Expand your harmonic lead skills with double-stop 6ths. You'll leave the lesson with a musical lick that works in tons of musical situations.
Day 4. Patterns and sequences
Turn scale shapes into musical patterns with three versatile sequences.
Day 5. Blue notes
Blend major and minor colors for a bluesier sound that still fits naturally in bluegrass.
Day 6. Finding melodies in other places
Learn to play the same melody in different positions across the fretboard so you can solo and shape your tone more freely.
Day 7. Restrictions as superpowers
Use creative limitations to sharpen your phrasing, ears, and improvisational choices.
Performance pieces
Choose a song to learn that takes what you worked on in Grade 6 and puts it in a musical context. Here, you'll get to jam with a live-recorded band of pro L.A. musicians as your backing track.
Personalized feedback
Submit a video of yourself playing a performance piece from this grade for custom video feedback on your playing from our team of pro guitarists.
Final quiz
Make sure you're ready to move on to new challenges.
REAL students
Don’t take our word for it, take theirs
What guitarists love about this course
FULL REFUND, NO QUESTIONS ASKED
Improve your playing or get your money back
We’re so confident that we can improve your playing that we’re underwriting your membership with a 60-day satisfaction guarantee.
Your Instructor
Andrew Brozek
Andrew is an expert guitarist with a deep connection to bluegrass. He'll help you build a strong lead and rhythm foundation so you can jam with others.
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