Week 3
Attention all tonebuddies! Are you ready to embark on a journey of musical creativity and exploration? Join our Arrangement & Transcription Challenge and discover the joy of reimagining music for the classical guitar!
Over the next four weeks, we’ll celebrate the art of transforming works from other instruments, ensembles, or even genres into stunning guitar performances. From Albéniz and Granados to Piazzolla, Bach, Scarlatti, or even your own favorite songs — everything goes!
🎯 Whether you choose to:
Work on a well-known transcription (Albéniz’s Asturias, Granados’s Danza Española, Piazzolla’s Libertango)
Create your own arrangement from scratch
Compare different versions and share your insights
…this is your chance to dive deep into the creative process and share your journey with the tonebase community.
This challenge is open to all levels — from curious beginners discovering their first transcription to experienced players refining their own arrangements. Let’s celebrate the versatility and expressive power of the guitar together!
📅 Challenge Dates
Start: November 11
End: December 11
👉 Join anytime by introducing your project in the comments below!
💡 How to Participate
Pick your piece – Choose an arrangement or transcription that excites you.
Share your goal – Are you learning, arranging, or refining?
Post your progress – Upload short clips, notes, or reflections as you go.
Engage – Encourage others, ask questions, and exchange arranging tips!
🎥 Watch Party Reminder
The Watch Party on December 11 will feature recorded submissions from this challenge!
So make sure to submit your final performance videos and showcase your creative work!
86 replies
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Phew! This was a busy week. I was afraid I wouldn't get a video in, but I finally had some time tonight. Here's week 3 of my Dedicatoria by Granados, transcribed by Llobett. In week 1, Dale commented on the string noise and now that is all I can hear. 😂 Once I get it completely memorized and feeling comfortable I'm going to work on cleaning up all the noise.
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So here is Section 3 of Piazzolla's Tango, Calambre, arranged by Agustin Carlevaro. Hopefully, I can pull it all together for posting in Week Four of the Challenge.
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Wow, that is really interesting, Dale. It has a very jazzy harmonic and rhythmic feel to it. When I first heard it I had to read your intro again tomato sure it wasn't a jazz standard. I don't think I had heard Piazzola with such a jazz feel. I am really looking forward to hearing it all together.
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Thanks, working on trying to pull it all together to make it feel all connected.
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Very nice, Dale. I found Augustin's recording of this on Pandora, too, along with his other Piazzolla interpretations. Really a fun disc, but they were apparently engineered by different people, and a couple of tracks, including his take on Calembre, unfortunately, has some cavernous reverb. That track definitely wouldn't have passed Martin's recording course, lol. I'm looking forward to your cleaner version.
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This is already sounding very good Dale, I like the way you're leading voices and make fluid chord progressions, I personally very like Agustin's arrangements.
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Thanks. I agree not always the best quality recordings but great to listen to and I really love his arrangements. Agustin was a very special soul with a big heart and immense talent.
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Thanks. Glad you are a fan of Agustin's arrangements. Piazzolla is quoted as saying Agustin's arrangements of his pieces are stupendous.
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They indeed are... great to know that Piazzolla thought that about them! Here's my own Estaciones copy!
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wow, Dale. Good playing again. As mentioned, this is a very jazzy one. All voices are very clear. Looking forward to the full version.
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