The Fretboard Journal Guitar Podcast · The Fretboard Journal

Dan Gabel of Peghead Nation

·40 min·4 clips

Three friends left print media to bootstrap Peghead Nation and are still partners 10 years later.

This episode features host Jason Verlinde interviewing Dan Gabel, co-founder of the online music instruction platform Peghead Nation. Gabel, along with partners Scott Nygaard and Taya Gerken, launched Peghead Nation in 2014 after long careers at Acoustic Guitar Magazine. The conversation explores the company's decade-long journey and its unique place in the acoustic music education world. Peghead Nation began with 17 streaming video courses and has since expanded to 75 courses covering guitar, mandolin, banjo, fiddle, and dobro. The founders leveraged their industry connections to recruit initial instructors like Orville Johnson, Brittany Haas, and Sharon Gilchrist, many of whom were personal contacts of Scott Nygaard. The platform also produces instrument demos and performance videos, creating what Gabel describes as "inspirational content" beyond pure technique lessons. A key operational detail involves instructors typically filming two days of content, which is then released as a year's worth of monthly lessons. The company has expanded into live Zoom workshops, with one on flatpicking fiddle tunes starting April 1st. Gabel notes the pandemic provided an unexpected business bump as musicians sought online outlets. One surprising insight is that instructors like jazz mandolinist Aaron Weinstein can film hours of material with minimal retakes. Gabel reveals that a "Weekly Mandolin Workout" course by Ethan Setiawan exceeded their expectations in popularity. He shares that some niche courses, like Brazilian choro mandolin, are published because they are "cool" despite anticipating slower growth. The founders' editorial process involves Scott Nygaard working with instructors to develop course outlines and ensure they don't overlap with existing offerings. A memorable anecdote involves a car alarm accidentally set off by Gabel during Bill Frisell's quiet set at the first Fretboard Summit. Gabel's personal band, Minus Mary, has been playing together since 2013, the same year Peghead Nation was conceived. The tone is conversational, friendly, and reflective, marked by mutual respect between the host and guest. The style is interview-based, focusing on business origins, educational philosophy, and personal anecdotes. This episode would appeal to guitarists and acoustic musicians interested in online learning, music entrepreneurship, or the history of acoustic music media. Listeners seeking high-energy debate or technical playing tutorials might find it less engaging.

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A steady look at the craft behind online guitar instruction.

Dan's stop on the Fretboard Journal podcast offers a steady look at how a niche guitar instruction world takes shape. The host begins with a 500-episode listener call before settling into a conversation about the practical work of online lessons: choosing instructors, shaping…

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A behind-the-scenes look at how a guitar lesson library gets built.

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