Week 1: Our Unfinished Pieces!
Welcome to the Main Thread for the first week of "Unfinished Business" practice challenge!
- Choose an piece that you have started to practice but never fully commited to finish. It could be a an iconic masterpiece, a technical challenge, a sweet little miniature or a piece that you played a long time ago and always wanted to refresh! You're encouraged to experiment with pieces from composers you're not accustomed to or push your boundaries with a technically demanding work.
- Commit to regular practice and share your journey with the community. Aim to practice daily and upload at least two videos per week to showcase your progress. This will not only aid in keeping you dedicated and motivated but also enables you to share your musical journey with our tonebase family.
- Share your favorite piece or recording that you always wanted to learnm but is still "unfinished business". Your submission will serve as inspiration for others and construct a vibrant repertoire of potential pieces for fellow members to explore.
↓ Happy Sharing! ↓
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Etude #1 Stravinsky Hommage
If you can bear a bit of self indulgence. Some of you may remember I composed an Etude in Ashley's Etude Composition workshop (those were the days!). I never was able to ever work it up satisfactorily, so I thought I would try for this Challenge. This is the first section which is mostly under my fingers. Unfortunately, the second section is much harder. We'll see how well I do.
This is inspired by some of Stravinsky's elements but in no way does it actually resemble Stravinsky, despite having a quote from the Rite of Spring (of all pieces!) in the 2nd part.
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Spare Machine Thanks Mark. Now if I can only get the 2nd part down!
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Jack Stewart Curious: What program do you use to create your sheet music?
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Jack Stewart Very nice, Jack. I love this style of music and am looking forward to the second part. Congrats!
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Jack Stewart Very interesting piece, Jack, and certainly a real workout for the left hand! Many thanks for sharing the score. (It's at the very limit of what I would call 'sight-readable', but it's a lot of fun to work through!) What I especially like about the piece is its rhythmic drive: there is a kind of momentum that is almost hypnotic in its effect. This doesn't seem at all like the work of a novice composer. Have you written other music for guitar?
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Spare Machine I am using Musescore which is pretty complete free music notation software. It is fairly easy to learn though playback is not so good -the guitar is a typically bad midi sound. I do think they are in the process of adding real instrument sounds. They haven't gotten to guitar yet but I read somewhere it was in the works.
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Dale Needles Thanks Dale. The second part may take a while, it is pretty challenging, though I have been working thru it.
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David Krupka Thanks David. I have written a couple of student works years ago (like 40!). This is the first piece I have ever written that is not entirely derivative. I hope to do more but it is difficult to not succumb to the 'Harper Lee' syndrome. btw, I, in no way, comparing my work to 'To Kill a Mockingbird', just referencing the lack of follow up. I keep mapping out prospective pieces but Martin keeps bringing up these damn challenges. What am I supposed to do?
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Jack Stewart Oh yeah this study is back!!
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Blaise Laflamme Hopefully I can give it a better performance than last time.
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Jack Stewart looks like you're on the right path!
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Jack Stewart wow Jack! This is awesome! Sounding really good.
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don Thanks Don.
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Jack Stewart Wow, it sounds great and interesting, Jack! Do you often compose guitar music? I would really enjoy listening to more of your compositions. Keep up the great work!
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Wai Thanks Wai. This is my only actually original piece (not overly derivative). but I keep working on ideas. So maybe someday there will be another.
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Jack Stewart I tried playing it and almost broke my fingers
I think this can be really awesome etude too. Congrats!
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Barrios – País de Abanico (July 7 update)
Here are a couple videos showing my work on this piece today:
- The first video is me talking through some of the more difficult measures in the B section. The pictures below are those trouble sections, with the last one being an alternate fingering that I am now using in measures 49-55.
- The second video is a first take, warts and all, of the whole piece, but it starts at the B section (page 2, measure 33). After the B section, I do the repeat of the A section and then the ending coda, so this is essentially the entire piece.
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Eric Phillips Thank you for sharing these videos. It's good for a newbie to have a "look behind the curtain" at more advanced players' processes and mindsets when up against a challenging passage. And the tune is lovely, warts and all. I think the folky in my prefers some imprecisions--the "warts" did not take away from the overall beauty in that second video!
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Eric Phillips great work on this piece Eric, Barrios is not easy but it pays off in the long term. I like how he harmonize what looks like a simple melody to create a rich sounding music, but someone must have stretchable hands, what you have!
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Eric Phillips This is another great one, Eric. Your initial attempts = my months long efforts.
Hey, did you ever consider becoming a teacher? You are really good at structuring lessons.This is a very interesting composition. It has a sweetness and humor that emerges after a rather melancholic intro.
Great work.
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Spare Machine Blaise Laflamme Jack Stewart Thanks, guys. Slowly chugging along.
And Jack, yes, I have tried teaching (for the last 23 years), but I'm trying to get out of it. Unfortunately, my kids still need things like clothes and food, so I can't retire just yet.
Trust me, I would if I could, and then I could just be a full-time guitar nerd. -
Eric Phillips I actually did know you are a teacher. I was just acknowledging your professional background was apparent in your videos. Thinking back to my high school days, I can certainly understand your frustrations.
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Jack Stewart Yes, I knew you knew. I was just playing.
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Eric Phillips
Just as curiosity, what specialty are you teaching?
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Andre Bernier Hi Andre. I teach theology.
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Eric Phillips I am raising my hat. In a hundred years I would have never bet that.
End of the Year Challenge: Finish Strong!
