Week 1 - A New Hope 🌟

Hello tonebuddies! 🎶

A long time ago, in a practice room far, far away... you picked up a piece. You were excited. You cracked it open, worked through the first page, maybe the second — and then something happened. Life struck back. A new piece caught your eye. The fingering felt impossible. The score quietly migrated to the bottom of a stack where it's been sitting ever since. 🎸

This May, we're bringing back the Unfinished Business Challenge — and we're kicking things off on May the 4th, because what better day to summon the Force and finally finish what you started? Every guitarist has an abandoned piece (or three). This is your chance to rescue one from the Sarlacc pit of your music folder and bring it home.

This challenge is open to all levels. Whether you left off at bar 8 or bar 80, whether it's a Bach fugue or a beginner study that got away — if there's a piece waiting for its return, it belongs here.


🌟 The Challenge

Revisit a composition you started but never finished — and this time, see it through. It might be:

  • 🎯 A piece you abandoned because it felt too hard
  • 🎯 Something you got halfway through before a new obsession took over
  • 🎯 A passage or section you never quite nailed
  • 🎯 A piece you learned years ago but never polished or performed

Share the story of why it got left behind and what it means to finally complete it. That's half the magic of this challenge.


📅 Challenge Dates

Start: May 4
End: June 12
Watch Party: June 12


🎥 How to Participate

  1. Pick your piece – Choose the piece (or section) that's been haunting you. The one you've been avoiding. That's the one.
  2. Share your goal – Post in the forum thread and tell us what you're finishing and why it got abandoned in the first place.
  3. Post your progress – Share updates along the way — rough takes, slow-tempo run-throughs, the gnarly passage you finally cracked.
  4. Engage with your fellow rebels – Cheer each other on, leave constructive feedback, and celebrate every piece that makes it across the finish line.

Bonus points: Share a recording of your favorite performance of the piece you're revisiting — the version that first made you fall in love with it.


🎬 Watch Party — June 12

The Watch Party on June 12 will feature recorded submissions from everyone who completed their Unfinished Business. Make sure to submit your final performance videos so we can celebrate your finished piece together! 🎉


💡 Need a Little Help from a Jedi Master?

If the reason you left the piece unfinished is still giving you trouble, tonebase is full of lessons, masterclasses, and courses from world-class guitarists ready to help you through the tricky parts. Search for the piece, the composer, or the technique — chances are, there's a Master ready to help.


May the 4th be with you, tonebuddies. Let's finish what we started. 🎸⚔️

175 replies

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    • Retired
    • Jack_Stewart
    • 3 days ago
    • Reported - view

    Gilardino Study #31 Theme and Variations

    Wow! This opening caught me by surprise. I have kept checking periodically but somehow missed the beginning, not that I was ready to post until now.

    This is a full recording of the #31 Study from last challenge, so I figured that qualifies for the Unfinished Business category.

    There are still my requisite slips, blunders and lapses but, for the most part, it is reasonably well done. I find the arpeggiated variation really difficult to play convincingly, though I have heard some very successful versions (Attademo and Porqueddu). I was surprised how difficult this study was for me to get this to a reasonable level. But then, I am always surprised to wake up every morning.

    I intend to keep working on this but I have already started on my next project. Much of what I will be doing for this challenge will be revising and resurrecting previous repertoire that have fallen by the wayside. 

      • Nijwm_Bwiswmuthiary
      • 3 days ago
      • Reported - view

       Those fast left hand shifts that you had to do must involve a lot of skill and practice. And you did those very very well.

      In my own playing, I often find it difficult to execute those shifts, with left hand fingers having to do these fast transverse movements. 

      • Retired
      • Jack_Stewart
      • 3 days ago
      • Reported - view

       I don't know who Ruth Underwood is/was so I can't say. Seems like this show paired the Mothers with the Jean Luc Ponty Group. They would always pair amazing groups in unlikely combinations. I wish I could remember them all (there are reasons I can't).

      I have a T shirt that sums it up 

      "I May Be Old But I Got To See All The Cool Bands"

      • Retired
      • Jack_Stewart
      • 3 days ago
      • Reported - view

      Yeah those shifts were difficult. I continue to practice them very slowly and gradually increase the speed - sometimes successfully.

      • Amateur guitarist/lutenist
      • David_Krupka
      • 3 days ago
      • Reported - view

       Ruth played the vibes, as well as the marimba and the xylophone. She was a Julliard trained percussionist who went from groupie to full-fledged band member. Her playing is featured on quite a few well known tracks. She was married to Ian Underwood, one of the original Mothers.

      • Ron.3
      • 3 days ago
      • Reported - view

       Having watched all your videos throughout the Etude challenge it's really great to hear the whole thing. Your persistence and hard work has really paid off! Bravo indeed!

      • mike.12
      • 3 days ago
      • Reported - view

      go go go :)

      • joosje
      • 3 days ago
      • Reported - view

       great stuff. It doesn’t sound unfinished though. I mean, you’re doing so well in this difficult piece. But then, what is ever finished… thank you for posting . It’s a very good composition. Too good to be named “Study #31”

      • Retired
      • Jack_Stewart
      • 3 days ago
      • Reported - view

      Thanks Ron. I very much appreciate the encouragement. It is easy for me to get lost in the flubs and lapses.

      • Retired
      • Jack_Stewart
      • 3 days ago
      • Reported - view

      Thanks Mike.

      • Retired
      • Jack_Stewart
      • 3 days ago
      • Reported - view

       Thanks Joosje. I agree that is more 'elevated than a study. But then the previous Study I presented by Gilardino was just the prelude of a 4 movement suite. 

      • Dale_Needles
      • 2 days ago
      • Reported - view

       Bravo, Jack. This is a interesting piece and you did a great job pulling it all together. Makes much more sense when you hear it in its entirety.  Congrats.

      • Eric
      • 2 days ago
      • Reported - view

       That was great to listen to, Jack! What a wonderful piece of music that I'm surprised I hadn't heard until hearing you play it.

      • Retired
      • Jack_Stewart
      • 2 days ago
      • Reported - view

       Thanks Dale. I find this work to be an interesting set of variations.  Hopefully I'll be able to settle into it so that it will flow a little more smoothly. Oh well... I can always hope.

      • Retired
      • Jack_Stewart
      • 2 days ago
      • Reported - view

       Thanks Eric. I am really surprised that Gilardino doesn't have more 'air time. He has a massive catalog of works that are incredibly diverse. Unfortunately, much of it is above my pay grade.

      • LIVE
      • martin.3
      • Yesterday
      • Reported - view

        Can't wait to see where this one lands!!

    • Civil law notary with a passion for music
    • Bart_Versteeg
    • 3 days ago
    • Reported - view

    This challenge has a flying start! I hadn’t even chosen a piece yet…. 
    Michelle and Nijwm, you convinced me to enter.

    I will settle for the Sor Rondo opus 48. I started this in 1975. Time to finish it!

      • Amateur guitarist/lutenist
      • David_Krupka
      • 3 days ago
      • Reported - view

       I don't know, what's the rush? 😂 Anyhow, that's a fun piece - I look forward to hearing it! I'm sure in my own pile of scores I've got more than a few half finished pieces from that time too. Now you've really got me thinking!

      • BLaflamme
      • 3 days ago
      • Reported - view

       Great to see you back here Bart!

      • Eric
      • 2 days ago
      • Reported - view

      Awesome choice, looking forward to hearing it!

      • LIVE
      • martin.3
      • Yesterday
      • Reported - view

        1975 — that's a long time to keep a piece on the back burner! 😄 The Sor Op. 48 Rondo is a wonderful choice — half a century of patience deserves a beautiful payoff. And it's great to hear   and   convinced you to jump in. Looking forward to following the journey.

      • Civil law notary with a passion for music
      • Bart_Versteeg
      • 19 hrs ago
      • Reported - view

       yes Martin, sometimes you have to give yourself some time. There is so much music to play. Often I don't have the patience to polish a piece, and I move on to something else too quickly. 

    • Eric
    • 2 days ago
    • Reported - view

    Holy cow! I step out of the forum for a few days to grade exams, and the challenge which hasn't started yet has totally blown up with posts! Usually I'm the one jumping the gun.

    After I post this video, I'll try to catch up with listening to the earlier posts, but it may take me a while.

      • BLaflamme
      • 2 days ago
      • Reported - view

       I'm sorry to have opened the ball, it was unexpected! It's a very good choice of piece, this Ponce sonata is incredibly beautiful and this second movement already sounds superb under your fingers, can't wait to hear more!

      • joosje
      • 2 days ago
      • Reported - view

       beautifully played, Eric! The melody shines and I  hear the many countervoices. I’m looking forward to follow your revision of fingerings. There is so much happening in this short piece. , it’s probably one of the most beautiful,  most intense and ingenuous movements in guitar composing. Thank you for sharing.

      • Amateur guitarist/lutenist
      • David_Krupka
      • 2 days ago
      • Reported - view

       Off to a great start as usual, Eric! I also love this sonata - it's one of the real gems of the entire guitar literature, imo. And the middle movement, for reasons pointed out by   is particularly engaging. It can definitely stand on its on own!

Content aside

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