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. 🎸⚔️

271 replies

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    • joosje
    • 6 days ago
    • Reported - view

    I decided not to wait till Monday because this week promises to be very busy.

    My 2nd project is Philipp Houghton’s “Ophelia, a haunted Sonata”. I started this last year in Schotland, where I had a lesson with Thomas Villauteau at CGR. His performance of this piece is so ‘hauntingly’ beautiful. But then (after practicing the 5 parts) I let it rest.

    Here is my chance to pick it up again. starting with a slow movement (III, Chant of the flower moon). notes: “of the heart….innocence….singing”

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

       This is totally new to me - a very appropriate choice as the I believe the Flower Moon was visible on May 1st.  Thanks for sharing - beautifully played - I look forward to the other parts!

      • Nijwm_Bwiswmuthiary
      • 4 days ago
      • Reported - view

       stellar work, Joosje. The interplay between the bass and treble strings and the sombre tone of the piece is so beautiful.

      • Dale_Needles
      • 4 days ago
      • Reported - view

       Very beautiful and haunting piece. Well played! Good luck with your exams. 

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

       This is really nice, Joosje. You very effectively capture the mood of the music. Excellent work. I have a vague awareness of Houghton's music and have heard this piece before though I don't remember it -  it is saved in one of my 'modern guitar' playlists.

      You have inspired me to reacquaint myself with this work. Thanks.

      • Debbie
      • 3 days ago
      • Reported - view

       Beautiful! I love those kinds of haunting pieces. I’m unfamiliar with these compositions so I’m really looking forward to hearing the rest. Thomas is such a great teacher and I’m glad you got a chance to take a lesson with him. A few years ago I did a month  lessons with him here on tonebase and loved it. I don’t know why they stopped that format. I found it really valuable. I’m also happy to hear you’re studying formally again. Those conservatory programs I are really great. Nothing beats working with a great teacher/mentor and getting immediate feedback.

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

       

      Great performance Joosje. The tone and dark mood is beautiful. Bravo 

    • Debbie
    • 5 days ago
    • Reported - view

    Hello everyone! I'm in the middle of painting my house so please excuse me for not contributing a first video. I'll be going back to Capricho Arabe that I started a couple of years ago but then had to abandon when my left hand started its problems. I got through it but never quite polished it, so that's the one! I'll be back next week with a contribution and in the meantime I'll try to find some time to listen what you've all contributed so far. From the looks of it you all are off to a rip-roaring start!

      • LIVE
      • martin.3
      • 5 days ago
      • Reported - view

        Yay, Capricho Arabe, go for it!!! 🎸

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

    After 15+ years away from the guitar due to an injury  I joined tonebase last week.  I want to avoid relearning old pieces as I fear they contain some bad habits(too much L hand tension) that contribute to the injury.  So I am starting at the beginning with Assad's sketch no 1, and Giuliani Op. 50, No. 13.  

    I am only at it a week and it is funny that the hardest part is sticking to my plan of never practicing from more than 1 hour a day :)

    If my arm stays healthy I will figure out how to record and post.

      • LIVE
      • martin.3
      • 5 days ago
      • Reported - view

       , welcome to tonebase, and what a thoughtful way to come back after 15 years. Picking fresh repertoire to avoid baking in old tension makes a lot of sense, and Assad's Sketch No. 1 and the Giuliani are both great picks for rebuilding clean technique. The hardest part of the 1-hour rule is honoring it on the days you really want to keep going 😄. Whenever you're ready to record, even a short clip, we'd love to hear it.

      • BLaflamme
      • 5 days ago
      • Reported - view

       Welcome to Tonebase Mike, I was away a bit less than 10 years from the guitar when I registered to Tonebase in late 2020 and it was a fun ride since then, I hope you'll enjoy us!

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

    OK guys, the game is on. I have two pieces for the Challenge. The first is the Rondo op. 48 nr 6 bij Fernando Sor. I started this piece in the seventies. Time to finish it!

      • LIVE
      • martin.3
      • 5 days ago
      • Reported - view

        It is on!!! Yeah!!! Fifty years in the making, and 2026 is the year that Rondo finally crosses the finish line. Can't wait to hear it. 🎸

      • Eric
      • 5 days ago
      • Reported - view

       That was excellent, Bart! Sor has so many of these lesser-known opuses that are really great. I love the snappy rhythm, the left hand leaps, and the color changes you incorporated.

      You played this in the seventies? Did you play guitar in utero?

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

       You asked the question that crossed my mind as well ,,,

      • BLaflamme
      • 5 days ago
      • Reported - view

        Maybe  is a vampire living across centuries! 🤔

      • BLaflamme
      • 5 days ago
      • Reported - view

       That was great Bart, well... you first played that at 5 years old?! 😅

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

      well, I am 64 this year. Somehow my hair doesn’t turn grey.

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

       I would be the brother of Brandon Acker than? 😂🤣😂🤣

      • BLaflamme
      • 5 days ago
      • Reported - view

       You don't look your age, I would have guessed you were my age at most! 😅

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

      Excellent Bart! Lovely piece for the challenge!

      • joosje
      • 4 days ago
      • Reported - view

       great starting point indeed. This is your  kind of music, Bart. Well done. I really enjoy the bright rhythmic playing. 

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

      Excellent job Bart. I was not familiar with this work by Sor. It is very good. Thanks for sharing.

      • Debbie
      • 3 days ago
      • Reported - view

      Anything by Sor is a great choice. You’ve kept a lot of this in your fingers over the past half century 😉 

       

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

      Not a vampire just the Highlander 😉

Content aside

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