Guitar lessons · The Last Living Shepherdess
Learn the songs you came here to play.
Beautiful guitar lessons for songs you already love — with video instruction, notation, tab, fretboard follow-along, alternate tunings, chord shapes, sing-along help, and printable guides to keep beside your guitar.
Available now
Start with a song you already love.
Coming Soon
Coming to the music stand.
Songs I'm building lessons for next. Nothing is on sale until the lesson is finished — the Prairie Letter hears first when one opens.
Carey
Joni Mitchell
In the works. I'll let the Prairie Letter know the day it's ready.
In the works
Urge for Going
Joni Mitchell
In the works. I'll let the Prairie Letter know the day it's ready.
In the works
This Flight Tonight
Joni Mitchell
In the works. I'll let the Prairie Letter know the day it's ready.
In the works
You Turn Me On, I'm a Radio
Joni Mitchell
In the works. I'll let the Prairie Letter know the day it's ready.
In the works
Cactus Tree
Joni Mitchell
In the works. I'll let the Prairie Letter know the day it's ready.
In the works
Chelsea Morning
Joni Mitchell
In the works. I'll let the Prairie Letter know the day it's ready.
In the works
California
Joni Mitchell
In the works. I'll let the Prairie Letter know the day it's ready.
In the works
Conversation
Joni Mitchell
In the works. I'll let the Prairie Letter know the day it's ready.
In the works
Big Yellow Taxi
Joni Mitchell
In the works. I'll let the Prairie Letter know the day it's ready.
In the worksEverything you need to learn the song.
No hunting through five different websites. Your lesson materials are designed to work together.
Video Lesson
Watch how the song is played, section by section.
Notation
Follow the music as it moves.
Tab
Exactly where the fingers go.
Fretboard Follow-Along
See the shapes on the neck while you practise.
Chord Shapes
Every shape the song needs, written out.
Tuning Help
How to get into the tuning — and back out again.
Sing-Along Support
Where the voice fits over the guitar part.
Printable Field Guide
A reference to keep beside your guitar.
FREE Shepherdess Play + Sing Guide
Included with every song lesson.
Included with each lesson
The Printable Field Guide
Your lesson also includes a Printable Field Guide — a beautiful, practical reference to keep beside your guitar while you practise. Print it, fold it, spill tea on it.
- A short overview of the song
- The tuning, and any capo position
- The chord shapes the song needs
- How the song is put together, section by section
- Playing notes for the parts that catch people out
- Practice reminders to work through slowly
Contents vary a little from song to song — each guide covers what that song actually asks of you.
Want to play it AND sing it?
A lot of guitar lessons stop once you know where your fingers go. But many of us picked up the guitar because we wanted to sing the songs too. That is why Shepherdess lessons include practical help for bringing your playing and voice together.
- 1Learn the guitar part.
- 2Find where your voice fits.
- 3Bring them together gradually.
Coming soon, free
The Shepherdess Play + Sing Guide
Playing the chords is one thing. Singing while your hands are doing something completely different can be another. I'm writing The Shepherdess Play + Sing Guide to help with exactly that — and when it's finished it will appear free in the library of anyone who owns a song lesson. Here's what it covers:
- Learn the guitar part first
- Simplify the guitar while you add the voice
- Find a comfortable starting pitch
- Spot your vocal entry points
- Handle chord and vocal changes together
- Break the song into small sections
- Simple warm-ups before you play
- Bring guitar and voice together gradually
What do you want to play?
Carey
Joni Mitchell
In the works. I'll let the Prairie Letter know the day it's ready.
In the worksUrge for Going
Joni Mitchell
In the works. I'll let the Prairie Letter know the day it's ready.
In the worksThis Flight Tonight
Joni Mitchell
In the works. I'll let the Prairie Letter know the day it's ready.
In the worksYou Turn Me On, I'm a Radio
Joni Mitchell
In the works. I'll let the Prairie Letter know the day it's ready.
In the worksCactus Tree
Joni Mitchell
In the works. I'll let the Prairie Letter know the day it's ready.
In the worksChelsea Morning
Joni Mitchell
In the works. I'll let the Prairie Letter know the day it's ready.
In the worksCalifornia
Joni Mitchell
In the works. I'll let the Prairie Letter know the day it's ready.
In the worksConversation
Joni Mitchell
In the works. I'll let the Prairie Letter know the day it's ready.
In the worksBig Yellow Taxi
Joni Mitchell
In the works. I'll let the Prairie Letter know the day it's ready.
In the worksWhy learn it here?
Most people learning a song end up stitching it together from a half-remembered video, a tab site that gets the chorus wrong, a forum thread about the tuning and a chord chart from somewhere else. Here, the video, the notation, the tab, the fretboard follow-along, the tuning, the chord shapes, the singing help and the Printable Field Guide are all made for the same song, by the same teacher, and they agree with each other.
Build your songbook
Pick Three. Keep Playing.
Choose three songs you would love to learn and build your own little Shepherdess songbook.
- 3 Song Lessons
- 3 Printable Field Guides
- The Shepherdess Play + Sing Guide with each lesson
- Find Your Voice: Sing Without Fear — FREE
Not open yet — the bundle unlocks once three song lessons are released. One lesson is available today.
See what's available now →
Also from me
Sing Anyway
A practical book for singers facing stage anxiety—with the complete 14-day journal included free.
Get Sing AnywayFree to read
Start with a guide, then pick a song.
How to play and sing at the same time
Why your hands stop when you open your mouth, and the steps that fix it.
A beginner's guide to alternate tunings
How Open D turns four-finger chords into one, and how to get there safely.
Learn a song without reading music
Tab, chord charts, fretboard follow-along and your own ears.
What Players Are Saying
A few words from the music table
Find Your Voice is a great book and journal combo that really had me thinking about my stage anxiety and singing in front of others from a different perspective. It has really helped me with an action plan to put this shyness away, and in a way it was good to know my experience was in good company; even Joni Mitchell had her experiences! Thank you so much.
I love my video lessons and how I can see the notation, chords and most of all the printable, foldable Field Guide for each song. This has made music fun for me again.
Great songs, great learning experience. Thank you!
free — the prairie letter
A letter from me, now and then.
Every letter carries a song worth learning, a tuning or chord idea to try, and something worth keeping — a line, a photograph from the fields, a small piece of my practice page.
No schedule, no noise. I write when there's something worth sending.
One to one
Need another musician for a minute?
Stuck on a song, a chord, a tuning — or haven't picked the guitar up in years? Tell me what you're working on and I'll write back.
Hello, I'm Avigail.
Musician, writer, collector of beautiful songs, unusual chords, guitars and things worth remembering. I teach the songs I love, the way I wish someone had taught them to me.
Come wander with me →