Best mandolin video courses - Homespun or Peghead?

[Dan in NH]

For people who have tried both, which one has better content? And best content that isn’t exclusively bluegrass?

[tjmangum]

Take a look at Artistworks too. Sierra Hull, Mike Marshall and Caterina Lichtenberg on Classical. I've been working through Sierra Hull's course and while there are references to Blue Grass, so far it's been a nice building block approach to skills and techniques.
https://artistworks.com/mandolin-lessons
I think most online courses offer a free sample or an introductory rate to let you try it out.

[tmsweeney]

While Peghead isn't strictly Bluegrass and Old Time, it leans that way, Artist Works works does seem a little more diverse.
I like the Peghead approach, its more laid back, however it tends to be "tune" oriented instead of "technique" oriented (the thinking being you learn the technique(s) by using it in a tune(s)).
While Artist Works has more "downloadable" material, to me it felt somewhat competitive for students and more like an actual school course with intended goals and milestone markers.
But either are worth it, and not everyone gets the same thing out of the same course, so it really depends on learning preferences and what you are looking to take away from the course.

[Peewee]

In my experience, it's Artistworks > Peghead Nation > Homespun.

Mike Marshall's Artistworks course is more comprehensive than Sierra Hull's (he's been doing it a lot longer) and has more non-bluegrass content, but they're both great teachers and the courses provide a roadmap from beginner to advanced player. Caterina Lichtenberg's course is amazing as well, but it's all classical mandolin. You should check out the list of lessons for each course on the website. They also offer one month subscriptions if you want to try it out.

Peghead Nation courses are less comprehensive, but still have great content and a variety of teachers and styles. They have less of a progressive, syllabus based approach but still teach technique along with the tunes and will definitely improve your playing. You'd probably have to chart a path through different courses depending on your level and where you want to get (e.g. Beginning Bluegrass Mandolin, Intermediate Bluegrass Mandolin, Advancing Mandolinist, Monroe Style Mandolin). They're also cheaper than Artistworks and almost always have discount codes that let you try a month free. The opportunity to learn Irish mandolin from Marla Fibish or Monroe Style from Mike Compton for $20 a month is pretty ridiculous.

Homespun is the least comprehensive, but good if you don't like the subscription model or want to learn something specific. The production values are lower and the lesson plans tend to be less thought out. They were great back in the day, but there are better alternatives now. There are still a lot of gems in their collection though, especially if you're interested in specific players: the Jesse McReynold's lesson is the best crosspicking tutorial available, the David Grisman and Andy Statman audio lessons have a lot of great content, the Bill Monroe set isn't the greatest tutorial but still a priceless up close look at his playing, Mike Marshall and Caterina Lichtenberg's lessons are great (though obviously less comprehensive than their Artistworks courses), John McGann's rhythm lesson, Ronnie McCoury, and more. They're always running sales, so if you're patient you can get most lessons a lot cheaper.

[RobP]

I several of the homespun courses from the DVD and CD days. Most are good and I have learned from them.

I have been doing Sharon Gilchrists Intermediate Bluegrass course on Peghead for a couple of years (some months more committed than others). I would say there is a lot more instruction and tricks about how to play included in her course, even when she is just teaching a tune like Soldiers Joy - I have learned a lot from this course.

I'm not a huge fan of subscription models in general, but this is the way the world works these days. Some months I send my $20 without spending any time with the course. If I had purchased something I downloaded, this would be less painful, but I find a do get a lot out of the Peghead course so I keep subscribing.

From homespun, my favs where the Sam Bush course that I have on CD, and the Norman Blake video.

Cheers,

Rob