🎯 The Etude Challenge: Study Pieces, Serious Progress - Week 4
Attention tonebuddies! It's time to embrace the music that was literally designed to make you a better guitarist. Welcome to The Etude Challenge — four weeks dedicated to the art of the etude!
Etudes occupy a unique place in the classical guitar repertoire. They're technical workouts disguised as beautiful music — pieces that sharpen your skills while rewarding you with something genuinely worth performing. From the elegant simplicity of Carcassi and Sor to the rhythmic brilliance of Brouwer's Etudes Simples, the virtuosic fire of Villa-Lobos's 12 Études, and everything in between — there's an etude out there for every player at every level.
This challenge is your chance to pick one (or more!), commit to it, and share your journey with the community.
🎯 Whether you choose to:
- Tackle a classic — Sor Op. 35, Carcassi Op. 60, Giuliani Op. 48
- Go for something bold — Villa-Lobos, Barrios, or Coste
- Explore the modern side — Brouwer, Carlevaro, or Bogdanovic
- Revisit an old friend — Polish a piece you learned before and bring it to a new level
…this is your moment to dig in and grow. This challenge is open to all levels — whether you're working through your very first Sor etude or preparing a Villa-Lobos for the stage, you belong here.
📅 Challenge Dates
Start: February 23
End: March 20
💡 How to Participate
- Pick your etude – Choose one that excites you and challenges you. Not sure where to start? Ask the community for suggestions!
- Share your goal – Tell us what you're working on and what you want to achieve (clean run-through, memorization, performance tempo, etc.)
- Post your progress – Upload short clips, practice notes, or reflections as you go. We want to see the process, not just the polish.
- Engage – Listen to what others are working on, leave encouragement, and trade practice tips!
103 replies
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Hey tonebuddies! Quick update on the challenge timeline — we're extending The Etude Challenge by two weeks! I'll be on vacation next week and still need to schedule the watch party, so we're pushing the finish line to mid-April. That means more time to polish your etudes, record your final takes, and share your progress. Keep practicing and stay tuned for the watch party date!
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Coming to you from the Negreiros Winery in the upper Douro Valley in Portugal. Here is my last posting for this Challenge. As I mentioned in my first post, since I am not able to record any new pieces for this Challenge, I would post some previous videos with the goal of sharing with you all some examples of Abel Carlevaro's many Estudios that he wrote. Carlevaro wrote more than 50 Estudios of which approximately 35 were published. They include his 20 Microestudios, 5 Estudios homenaje a Villa-Lobos, 4 Estudios Pequenos, and several Esudios embedded in his set of Cuadernos. The remainder are unpublished Estudios that he wrote for his students as well as several unpublished Microestudios. For this posting, I wanted to show an example of his Estudios homenaje a Villa-Lobos. Carlevaro was greatly influenced by Villa-Lobos, having studied with him in Rio de Janeiro. The following Estudio No. 5 is very reminiscent of Villa-Lobos Etude No. 4 & No. 6.
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Sor Op 29 No 24 Mar 16
I'm not sure there is any improvement here. I'm starting to feel like I have gone past the point of diminishing returns on my practice time, so I think I might make this my last post of the piece.
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Gilardino Study #31 Theme and Variations (Theme and 1st variations w/o repeats)
This the first posting of this study by Gilardino. So far I only have the theme and 1st variation under some control. I hope I can get the 2nd variation by the end of this week.
I find this study interesting and beautiful. Gilardino states it is an homage to Fernando Sor, however, it is a theme and variations on Robert Schumann's Theme and Variations op.118 2nd mov. It is much tamer than much of his other pieces in his set of 60 studies, both technically and harmonically. This piece will be with me for quite a while as the next 3 variations up the ante technically speaking.