🎶 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

  1. Pick your piece(s) – anything from the Latin American repertoire that excites you.

  2. Introduce yourself – share what you’ll be working on and why.

  3. Post updates – you can share progress videos, practice tips, or reflections.

  4. Support others – comment, encourage, and learn together.

📅 When?

  1. Start: September 29th

  2. End: October 30th

  3. 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. 💃🎶 

90 replies

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    • Barney
    • Yesterday
    • Reported - view

    I've always enjoyed listening to this  Ponce piece in performances and recordings but have not learned it until now. 

      • Steve_Price
      • 20 hrs ago
      • Reported - view

       I was looking forward to this one, Barney. Excellent job. I really liked your choices of tone colors and loved the tasto sections. Really nice work. 

      • Ron.3
      • 20 hrs ago
      • Reported - view

      Barney this is excellent! You really capture the essence of the piece and I love the phrasing and tone colours. Well done!

      • Barney
      • 19 hrs ago
      • Reported - view

      Thanks Steve!

      • Barney
      • 19 hrs ago
      • Reported - view

      Thanks Ron!

      • Retired
      • Jack_Stewart
      • 18 hrs ago
      • Reported - view

       This is excellent, Barney. As mentioned many times here, your your phrasing and tone control are masterful, an inspiration indeed! I don't kn ow if I have ever heard this piece. It is really nice. Thanks for presenting it.

      • Palmer
      • 18 hrs ago
      • Reported - view

       Sounds great Barney! I've always loved this piece. 

      • Barney
      • 18 hrs ago
      • Reported - view

      Thanks very much Jack!

      • Barney
      • 18 hrs ago
      • Reported - view

      Thanks Palmer!

      • Eric
      • 18 hrs ago
      • Reported - view

       That's awesome, Barney! It's such a majestic piece, and those harmonic changes are unpredictable and really catch the ear.

      • Barney
      • 18 hrs ago
      • Reported - view

      Thanks Eric!  Ponce's work is awesome.

      • Dale_Needles
      • 14 hrs ago
      • Reported - view

       Nicely performed.  I really like your use of tone color.  I noticed the brace on your left hand.  I believe you said it is a thumb injury.  How is it effecting your left hand?  Hopefully it will be healed soon.

      • Retired
      • Andre_Bernier
      • 12 hrs ago
      • Reported - view

       So nice Barney. Thanks for sharing. 👍

      • Amateur with too little time and bingeplayer with sore arms and fingers
      • Lars_KjollerHansen
      • 8 hrs ago
      • Reported - view

       Lovely piece and lovely executed.( as usual). What I especially note is some of the very sweet tones and I note you use that old technique of sweeping the nail to the right- towards pinky.. It gives the sweetest sound of all, but seem to has got out of fashion. There is a Greek guitarist Evangelos Assimakopoulos using this technique all the time (probably studied with Segovia) and I think he has the best sound of any guitarist.

      PS Your good sound in consideration I would turn the reverb down😊. I feel the artificial reverb is too obvious

      • Barney
      • 1 hr ago
      • Reported - view

      Thanks Andre!

      • Barney
      • 1 hr ago
      • Reported - view

       Thanks Lars!!  I'm not sure if I use that sweeping(slice) technique;  I do use rest strokes for a warmer rounder sound in certain spots.  The room I play in has extremely dry acoustics.  I will try to lower the setting on a future recording and see how it goes. 

      Thanks for the suggestions, and I will check Evangelos to see what you are referring to.

      • Barney
      • 1 hr ago
      • Reported - view

       Thanks Dale!  My left hand CMC thumb joint tendonitis is "slowly" healing.  I've been wearing the brace when playing to stabilize the thumb.  It still hurts and pain radiates into the palm when playing difficult stretches and tricky bars, or lengthy pieces where there may be unusually increased tension.

      Thanks for your good wishes!

      • Barney
      • 8 min ago
      • Reported - view

       I viewed a few videos of Evangelos.  His right hand is positioned like Segovia.  Ida Presti also played with that right hand position.  

      Yes, he later studied with Segovia and Presti.

      It looks like he is using rest strokes with an amazing vibrato in those "sweet spots".  However, maybe Segovia shared a special secret to achieve that sound, which Evangelos has.

    • Eric
    • 18 hrs ago
    • Reported - view

    Assad- Valseana (Oct 22)

    Here's another go at this after another week of practice. It's maybe incrementally better. My slurs still need work. I am trying to memorize it, but it's just not there yet.

      • Palmer
      • 17 hrs ago
      • Reported - view

       What a lovely, watery piece! You play it with such grace.

      • Barney
      • 16 hrs ago
      • Reported - view

       Beautiful Eric!!  When it's memorized, it will give you even more freedom to bring it to the next level.  You will be able to glance at fretborad for some of the large leaps to insure accuracy every time. 

      • Steve_Price
      • 15 hrs ago
      • Reported - view

       Excellent as always, Eric. I love hearing it again since it's really growing on me. It's really lovely, but it is clearly modern. Very nice. 

      • Dale_Needles
      • 14 hrs ago
      • Reported - view

       As Steve said, this piece really grows on you the more you listen it.  Beautiful!

      • Retired
      • Andre_Bernier
      • 12 hrs ago
      • Reported - view

       👍👍 such a beautiful piece of music.

      • Retired
      • Jack_Stewart
      • 11 hrs ago
      • Reported - view

       Great work Eric. As good as your first recording was, this seems more confident and with more emotional depth. 

      Dale and I attended Meng Su's concert in San Francisco last week. She concluded the concert with the 3 movement Aquarelle. Her performance was beautiful. If you can find a recording of her performing it I highly recommend.

      • Amateur with too little time and bingeplayer with sore arms and fingers
      • Lars_KjollerHansen
      • 8 hrs ago
      • Reported - view

       Congratulations. Impressive what you can achieve and what repertoire you my have

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