What We Do
Modern Music Masters delivers on-line video instruction.
We are run by musicians, for musicians, and our instructors are recognized masters of their instruments.
All have something unique and important to teach, and they present concepts & topics in an easy-to-learn manner . . . no matter what your skill level.
NEW COURSE!
The Resophonic Guitar
with Jerry Douglas
A guided tour towards learning
and mastering the Dobro™
INSTRUCTORS
PAUL FRANKLIN
Paul Franklin began playing steel guitar at age 8. Taking lessons from a Hawaiian guitar master, he quickly progressed and when pedal steel guitars came about, he got one immediately.
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Nashville was the place to be for this young prodigy, so he headed to Tennessee as a senior in high school to join Barbara Mandrell’s band. He also toured with Dottie West, Lynn Anderson, and Donna Fargo.
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Franklin joined Jerry Reed’s band, recorded solo albums of original pedal steel instrumentals, and began a long stint with Mel Tillis’ Statesiders playing classic country and honky-tonk.
Paul was featured in many of the albums of the 1980’s-2000s. In 1991 he took a call from Mark Knopfler that led to playing on The Notting Hillbillies album and eventually with Dire Straits, touring the world and recording On Every Street with them.
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Currently, Franklin tours with Vince Gill and Chris Stapleton. And every Monday night he holds down the pedal steel seat with the Time Jumpers, at 3rd and Lindsley, a popular Nashville club.
TOMMY WHITE
Born in Louisville, KY on January 9 1960, Steel Guitar Hall of Famer Tommy White received his first pedal steel at age nine.
At age 11 he began touring the upper Midwest playing in high school auditoriums and private parties.
By the time he was 13 he was appearing at various steel guitar shows, at 15 years old he was teaching others how to play and that year released his first album, “Tommy White, 100 Proof Steel, Aged 15 Years”.
He was 16 when he took a gig with Nashville star, Donna Fargo, a job that launched his professional career. Tommy stayed with Fargo from 1976 to 1985, when he joined The Whites and stayed until 1993.
Tours with Vince Gill and Steve Wariner in the early 2000’s led to countless recording, TV and radio gigs with notable positions in the staff band of Nashville Now and The Grand Ole Opry, where he remains the staff pedal steel guitarist.
Recent work with Alison Krauss and appearances with Pop icon Lady GaGa have put the amazing Tommy White in the larger public eye, bringing the sound of the pedal steel to whole new audiences in 2019.
BRUCE BOUTON
In 1978, Bruce Bouton moved from Vienna VA to Nashville with the dream of being a professional musician.
In the forty some years since then, 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.
Bruce has toured with Garth Brooks, Ricky Skaggs, Mel Tillis, Foster and Lloyd, and Reba McEntire.
JERRY 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.
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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 given him an innate ability to break down complex techniques and approaches into easily-learned lessons.
"I wanted to put out a course that offered some easily understood starting places for the beginner reso player" says Douglas. "A course that also gives more advanced players and even fans of the instrument some insight into how reso guitars are constructed, played — and how I approach making music on them."
CURRENT COURSES
The Paul Franklin Method is a complete course in pedal steel guitar for E9 and C6 necks, with wide-ranging in-depth lessons covering all topics for players at every level.
E9 Pedal Steel Basics features a selection of essential lessons that demystify the E9 neck, correct bad habits, and quickly get you playing music on the pedal steel guitar.
Paul's Toolbox course is the next step after Foundations. Packed with the licks, solos, and bar techniques you need to make real music, including an in-depth section on how to back singers.
Paul breaks down and teaches 50 licks and phrases covering multiple grooves and styles, sounds that artists and producers ask for. A musical vocabulary to drawn upon.
In C6 Essentials, Hall of Fame pedal steeler Paul Franklin guides you through a new way to look at the C6 tuning. Dust off that back neck and get started!
A complete set of lessons taken from The Paul Franklin Method, it's a mini-course in backing a singer, using the classic folk tune "Shenandoah".
Paul teaches one of his most frequently requested solos, breaking down "Together Again", from Bakersfield, his duet album with Vince Gill.
Join Tommy White & Paul Franklin as they teach the History and Evolution of pedal steel guitar, including technique, 3-element blocking, tone, and modern harmony.
Bruce shows you the essential skills, techniques and musicianship needed to get a great Rock sound on your Lap Steel. All of the basics you need to play Rockin’ Lap Steel are here.
Courses Coming Soon!
Join 14-time Grammy winner Jerry Douglas in an exploration of the Resophonic Guitar. Beginners, players and fans will learn how it's played and how it's made.
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