Only the best.
Modern Music Masters is an online school built around a simple idea: learn the instrument from the people who defined it.
World-Class Teachers.
Our instructors' high level of universally recognized skill informs their course lessons, ensuring that the videos are not only educational but also relevant, engaging and precise. They have something unique and important to teach, and they present the topics in an easy-to-learn manner, no matter what your skill level.
Filmed by Musicians, For Musicians.
We believe that "seeing is learning", and that is why we focus on how our courses are filmed, ensuring that key angles, movement, and details are captured to provide the clarity you need.
Every master, one library.
Pedal steel, bass, guitar, slide guitar, voice, music theory, and more to come. One library, every instrument.
Beginner, intermediate, or advanced, our courses meet you where you are. Learn at your own pace.
Meet our teachers.
Pedal SteelPaul Franklin
Pedal Steel Guitar and Musician's Hall of Famer Paul Franklin brings 50 years of insight and experience to his courses. From his teenage years playing gigs and sessions in his native Detroit to his many years in the Nashville touring and studio scene, Franklin is the go-to pedal steel guitarist of his generation. Mentored by the early legends of the instrument like Buddy Emmons, Lloyd Green, Weldon Myrick and Hal Rugg, Paul brings a sense of history to his lessons while always pushing the guitar forward. From George Jones to Megadeth, Streisand to Dire Straits, Paul's style encompasses all genres. His ability to convey complex concepts to beginners and pros alike sets him apart from other teachers on the pedal steel guitar.
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DobroJerry Douglas
Called "The Dobro's matchless contemporary master" by The New York Times, three-time CMA Musician of the Year award recipient Jerry Douglas is one of the most innovative recording artists in music. Jerry shines and soars as a solo artist, band leader for The Jerry Douglas Band and his GRAMMY winning bluegrass band The Earls of Leicester, as well as a member of ground-breaking ensembles including Alison Krauss & Union Station, J.D. Crowe & the New South, The Country Gentlemen, Boone Creek, and Strength In Numbers. In addition to performing and recording with a who's-who of popular music, Douglas is also an accomplished teacher, with an engaging blend of humor and to-the-point practicality that demystifies the instrument. His many years of playing and learning have further enhanced his innate ability to break down complex techniques and approaches into easily-learned lessons.
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Lap & Pedal SteelBruce Bouton
In 1978, Bruce Bouton moved from Vienna VA to Nashville with the dream of being a professional musician. After taking lessons with pedal steel legend Buddy Charlton, Bouton landed the pedal steel guitar gig with neo-Country superstar Ricky Skaggs and added blazing fast solos to hit tunes like "Highway 40 Blues" and "Country Boy". One fateful day on a Brooks and Dunn tracking date, he pulled his lap steel out of his cartage trunk to play the iconic "Boot Scootin' Boogie" hook that put the lap steel on the Nashville Country map. His lap and steel guitar playing have been heard on the hit records of Garth Brooks, Ricky Skaggs, Brooks and Dunn, Shania Twain, Keith Urban, Lonestar, Pam Tillis, and Lady Antebellum, among many others. As a songwriter he has had songs recorded by artists including T. Graham Brown, Garth Brooks, George Straight, Glen Campbell and George Jones.
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Slide GuitarJD Simo
JD Simo is an American guitarist, singer-songwriter and producer known for his work across blues-rock, psychedelic rock and beyond. Originally from Chicago, by the age of 15 he had formed a band and sold 5,000 copies of their debut EP, marked by his dynamic stagecraft and raw guitar skills.
His career spans live performance, studio work and film soundtracks, making him one of Nashville's most versatile musicians with a global reach. His slide guitar approach draws from deep blues tradition while pushing into sounds that are entirely his own, which makes him an ideal teacher for players who want to go beyond the obvious.
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Pedal SteelTommy White
Tommy White is a pedal steel child prodigy that just kept getting better. Early gigs with Donna Fargo and The Whites led to coveted TV spots and staff band positions. Currently holding down the pedal steel position in the Grand Ole Opry house band, Tommy divides his time with that gig and session work, with recent projects being Alison Krauss and TV appearances with Pop icon Lady GaGa. Known for his beautiful tone, touch and vast knowledge of musical styles, honed from years learning the top songs played by visiting artists on the Opry stage, Tommy's course (in collaboration with Paul Franklin) showcases his technique choices and his innovative TW Split pedal configuration.
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Upright BassViktor Krauss
Viktor Krauss is a Nashville-based bassist and composer with a career spanning three decades and more than 800 album credits as instrumentalist, composer, songwriter and producer. Since 1992 he has supported artists including Bill Frisell, Lyle Lovett, Robert Plant and Alison Krauss, James Taylor, Jerry Douglas, Sir Tom Jones, Dolly Parton and Elvis Costello.
As a solo artist, Krauss describes his music as soundtracks without a movie, blending jazz, Americana and classic rock. His debut, Far From Enough, featuring Bill Frisell, Jerry Douglas, Steve Jordan and Alison Krauss, reached #6 on the Billboard Contemporary Jazz Chart. Follow-ups include II (EMI, 2007) and Vignette, along with harpist Maeve Gilchrist.
A 2006 Sundance Institute Film Composers Lab fellow, he has scored film work tied to directors Ken Burns and Robert Altman, with solo recordings featured on NPR. He has also served as a clinician and artist-in-residence at Berklee, Indiana University and Belmont University.
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Guitar & Music TheoryBryan Clark
Bryan is a Texas native who began his music career opening for jazz guitarist Larry Carlton. A graduate of USC (BM, DMA) and UT Austin (MM), he has worked as a session musician, film composer and sound designer in Los Angeles, Austin and Nashville, with credits including Bonnie Raitt, Lisa Loeb and Kelsea Ballerini.
Bryan is a columnist for Premier Guitar, a faculty member at Belmont University and Vanderbilt, and a co-founder of Modern Music Masters. His bluegrass band Honeywagon spent 18 months on Billboard's Bluegrass Top 10. He is also the first Western artist inducted into the Chinese Cultural Heritage Guild. His theory teaching is grounded in real-world playing, not the classroom.
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VoiceJamie Wigginton
Training and coaching voices for over three decades, Jamie has dedicated his life to studying, developing and implementing the most effective methods and techniques to bring about profound improvements for his artists.
He has completed over 50 international tours, presenting master classes, concerts, private lessons and recording studio coaching. He is regularly hired for commissioned works, choral and orchestral, and conducts the recording sessions. He has been a full-time Professor of Commercial Voice at Belmont University for 18 years, where he directs and produces the top auditioned performance ensemble, PHNX (Phoenix).
Professor Wigginton coaches a full roster of private voice majors along with a weekly performance seminar. In the classroom, he teaches entrepreneurship and music business courses, and heads the Study Abroad Italy program, a Music History and Appreciation course.
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Guitar · Courses coming 2027Bob Britt
Bob Britt is one of Nashville's most successful studio and touring guitarists, with credits spanning decades and genres. His playing appears on records by Bob Dylan, John Fogerty, Buddy Guy, Leon Russell, Edgar Winter, Delbert McClinton, Trace Adkins, Lee Brice, Patty Loveless, John Oates, Steve Cropper, Trisha Yearwood, LeeRoy Parnell, David Allan Coe and T. Graham Brown.
A first-call player who has worked alongside the best in the business, Bob brings deep session experience and a guitarist's instinct for what makes a part work, musically as well as technically.
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Pedal Steel (Performance)Lloyd Green
One of the true legends of classic Nashville country, Lloyd Green played steel guitar on some of the most beloved records in country music history, for Tammy Wynette, Charley Pride, Tom T. Hall, Bob Dylan, Paul McCartney and The Byrds among them. A Steel Guitar Hall of Fame inductee, his playing defined what pedal steel sounded like during country music's golden era.
His performance brings a living historical perspective you won't find anywhere else, a direct line to the instrument's greatest tradition. His career retrospective at Paul Franklin's 2021 Pedal Steel Guitar Camp is a once-in-a-generation record of a master reflecting on a lifetime of artistry.
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Pedal Steel (Performance)Russ Pahl
One of Nashville's busiest and most versatile contemporary session pedal steel guitarists, Russ Pahl has recorded across country, pop, rock and Americana, including T-Bone Burnett productions, Sturgill Simpson, Carrie Underwood, Dierks Bentley and Vince Gill's band.
Known for his creative, outside-the-box approach and unique tone, Russ represents the evolution of the instrument and proves pedal steel has a home in any genre. His 21st Century Steel Guitar course is built for players who want to take the instrument beyond classic country sounds.
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