🎶 Latin American Music Challenge | Week 4
Welcome to our tonebase Guitar Community Challenge! For the next few weeks, we’ll be diving into the vibrant world of Latin American music, exploring rhythms, colors, and styles that have inspired guitarists around the globe.
This is your chance to work on masterpieces and hidden gems by some of the most iconic composers:
Heitor Villa-Lobos (Brazil) – lush, virtuosic preludes and études
Agustín Barrios Mangoré (Paraguay) – romantic, poetic works full of soul
Abel Carlevaro (Uruguay) – brilliant studies and innovative techniques
Leo Brouwer (Cuba) – modern masterpieces mixing folklore and avant-garde
Manuel M. Ponce – sonatas, and romantic masterpieces
Antonio Lauro – famous Venezuelan Waltzes
Atahualpa Yupanqui – folk-rooted pieces
Jorge Morel – virtuosic concert works and arrangements
…and many more treasures from across Latin America!
How it Works
Pick your piece(s) – anything from the Latin American repertoire that excites you.
Introduce yourself – share what you’ll be working on and why.
Post updates – you can share progress videos, practice tips, or reflections.
Support others – comment, encourage, and learn together.
📅 When?
Start: September 29th
End: October 30th
Watch Party: October 30th 🎉
Why Join?
✅ Discover new repertoire
✅ Build consistency in practice
✅ Get feedback from peers
✅ Celebrate Latin American music with the community
💡 Whether you’re tackling a full Villa-Lobos Étude, polishing a Barrios gem, or exploring a short Brouwer piece, this challenge is for everyone — from curious beginners to advanced players.
👉 Jump in by introducing yourself below and telling us what you’ll be working on!
Let’s bring the sounds of Latin America to life together. 💃🎶
178 replies
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Hi, everyone, this is my second attempt of the prelude. I must thank Barney, Blaise, Steve, Dale, Ron and other members for their feedback, advice and suggestions. I'm not sure this is an improvement on my previous attempt. Sometimes, new issues or ideas crop up and I'll keep working on them. There are technical as well as musical issues to work on. I had little memory slips as well, but here it is for now. I really enjoyed this challenge.
Oh, and I need advice for the thumb stroke (for the chords in bar 19, I think) where all the strings are fretted, except the B string. I was wondering how not to bring out that open string too much while also bringing out the notes on the high E. Right now, I'm using the thumb to strike only the first three upper strings and playing the lower strings with AMI and I don't like the sound too much with that technique. I like the single thumb stroke's more resonant, warmer and louder sound. How do I use the single thumb stroke better (mine isn't very good).