🎶 Latin American Music Challenge | Week 2

Welcome to our tonebase Guitar Community Challenge! For the next few weeks, we’ll be diving into the vibrant world of Latin American music, exploring rhythms, colors, and styles that have inspired guitarists around the globe.

This is your chance to work on masterpieces and hidden gems by some of the most iconic composers:

  • Heitor Villa-Lobos (Brazil) – lush, virtuosic preludes and études

  • Agustín Barrios Mangoré (Paraguay) – romantic, poetic works full of soul

  • Abel Carlevaro (Uruguay) – brilliant studies and innovative techniques

  • Leo Brouwer (Cuba) – modern masterpieces mixing folklore and avant-garde

  • Manuel M. Ponce – sonatas, and romantic masterpieces

  • Antonio Lauro – famous Venezuelan Waltzes

  • Atahualpa Yupanqui – folk-rooted pieces

  • Jorge Morel – virtuosic concert works and arrangements

  • …and many more treasures from across Latin America!


How it Works

  1. Pick your piece(s) – anything from the Latin American repertoire that excites you.

  2. Introduce yourself – share what you’ll be working on and why.

  3. Post updates – you can share progress videos, practice tips, or reflections.

  4. Support others – comment, encourage, and learn together.


📅 When?

  1. Start: September 29th

  2. End: October 30th

  3. Watch Party: October 30th 🎉


Why Join?

✅ Discover new repertoire
✅ Build consistency in practice
✅ Get feedback from peers
✅ Celebrate Latin American music with the community


💡 Whether you’re tackling a full Villa-Lobos Étude, polishing a Barrios gem, or exploring a short Brouwer piece, this challenge is for everyone — from curious beginners to advanced players.

👉 Jump in by introducing yourself below and telling us what you’ll be working on!

Let’s bring the sounds of Latin America to life together. 💃🎶 

45 replies

null
    • Steve_Price
    • 8 days ago
    • Reported - view

    Here are two more of Ponce's Preludios Cortos. There's something about number 1 that I haven't quite figured out yet, so I need to work some more on the phrasing. 

    I also recorded the middle part of Leo Brouwer's La aventura de un soldado from his Preludios Los amores difíciles (Difficult Loves Preludes: The Adventure of a Soldier). The preludes are based on the book of short stories by Italo Calvino, and they're all sort of love-themed, but they deal with things like fear, regret, hesitation, insecurity, etc. The preludes represent them well since there are some really lovely parts, but they can be challenging and chaotic in places. 

      • Retired
      • Andre_Bernier
      • 8 days ago
      • Reported - view

       Very nice Steve. My preference would be Leo Brouwer's preludios but the Ponce preludios are also very interesting. Good work and thanks for sharing your work.

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

       Great work Steve - more pieces I hadn't heard before! Thanks for sharing

      • Dale_Needles
      • 7 days ago
      • Reported - view

       Nicely done. Really enjoyed the Ponce Preludio Corto 3 and the Brouwer Preludio.  

      • Steve_Price
      • 7 days ago
      • Reported - view

       Thanks, Dale. The Brouwer is really a nice set, and it's a stretch, but I think it's my range, so I'll be working on that for a while. 

      • Steve_Price
      • 7 days ago
      • Reported - view

       Thanks, Ron. These have been a lot of fun to work on. 

      • Nijwm_Bwiswmuthiary
      • 5 days ago
      • Reported - view

       beautifully played, Steve. Are these full pieces in themselves? I haven't ventured beyond a few etudes and Un dia de Noviembre from Brouwer myself and I haven't learned any Ponce music so far. I really love short, beautiful pieces.

      • Steve_Price
      • 5 days ago
      • Reported - view

       The Ponce is a set of six short pieces, and Brouwer is a set of three. They have some common themes, but I don't think there's anything in them that you'd be missing if you play them as standalone pieces. I'm with you on this kind of short piece. It's really interesting to see composers like these and others like Bogdanovic and Ourkouzounov can create development and movement in pieces that are just a few minutes long. 

      • Retired
      • Jack_Stewart
      • Yesterday
      • Reported - view

       Really interesting, Steve. You play all of these really well. I also have difficulty with at least part of the first Ponce Prelude. None of the other recordings I have listened to have helped clarified the issues. I like the piece until the 2nd half. The chromatic phrase seems sort of throw away filler to me. The 3rd Prelude is much more successful IMHO.

      The Brouwer piece is really nice. I wish he had extended it more. Perhaps as a set it will fill it out

      Even though I am fairly familiar with both of these composers works, these pieces are all new to me. Thanks for sharing. 

      • Steve_Price
      • Yesterday
      • Reported - view

       Thanks, Jack. I'm still hoping to get a better understanding of the first prelude, but I figured I should get it down just in the interest of completeness. For the Brouwer, this is just one part of one of the pieces in the set, but it's followed by a typical Brouwer chromatic run that I'm trying to make sense of, so we'll see if I can get it down before the end of this. 

      • Retired
      • Jack_Stewart
      • Yesterday
      • Reported - view

       I just looked up a version of the Brouwer prelude (Claudio Giuliani - the only version I could find) and it didn't start the same as your version. I then reread your intro and realized you mention it was just the middle section. I'm always amazed how much I can learn if I actually read.🙄

      The concluding chromatic phrase is very curious. I like it but it does seem to appear out of nowhere. You're doing great on the piece.

      • Nijwm_Bwiswmuthiary
      • 13 hrs ago
      • Reported - view

       Great work, Steve. I really love your sound, very clean articulation of every single note. What type of mic do you use? I'm still trying to get better sounding recordings.

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

    Great work Steve - more pieces I hadn't heard before! Thanks for sharing

    • Dale_Needles
    • 7 days ago
    • Reported - view

    Here is Abel Carlevaro's Microestudio #14.  Six more to go to complete the set of 20, although I plan to take a break and move on to working on one of Carlevaro's later pieces, a Milonga from his Milonga Suite and a piece by Piazzolla and hope to post before the end of the Challenge.

      • Steve_Price
      • 7 days ago
      • Reported - view

       Nice, Dale. I've always liked the conversational nature of this one between the voices. Well played. 

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

       Well played Dale!

      • Nijwm_Bwiswmuthiary
      • 5 days ago
      • Reported - view

       Beautifully played, Dale. Bravo for dedicating such great efforts to finish all 20. Thanks for sharing these micro etudes that aren't often played enough.

      • Dale_Needles
      • 5 days ago
      • Reported - view

        Thanks. I really enjoy playing these Microestudios and encourage you to check them out. Maestro Carlevaro has a video of him playing and giving a lesson on the first five. Worth checking it out and the link can be found on the Carlevaro School of Guitar Forum in the resource section under the general discussion. 

      • Nijwm_Bwiswmuthiary
      • 5 days ago
      • Reported - view

       I might have seen one on YouTube. I'll definitely recheck it.👍

      • Retired
      • Jack_Stewart
      • Yesterday
      • Reported - view

       Another stellar performance, Dale. I'm going to have to look into these studies. They are fascinating.

      • Dale_Needles
      • Yesterday
      • Reported - view

       Thanks, Jack.  Definitely worth a look and plenty to choose from.  

    • matt.1
    • 5 days ago
    • Reported - view

    Here's my week 2 on Candombatan by Maximo Diego Pujol.  Making progress. I still have some memory issues and a couple of buzzed or flubbed notes, but getting there.  These challenges are always great motivators to make sure I am making consistent progress.

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

       Great work Matt - I really like how it flows!

      • Steve_Price
      • 5 days ago
      • Reported - view

       Very nice, Matt. This is really a feel-good piece. I had to check out some more of his music. 

      I'm curious which support you're using. Does it feel pretty stable? I love the idea of not having anything attached to my guitar. 

      • matt.1
      • 5 days ago
      • Reported - view

       Thanks Steve. I really like this composer. I also recommend Preludio Triston, Tristango En Vos, Candombe En Mi, and Alma Verde. But honestly all of his stuff is really catchy and has the "feel-good" vibe. I think he's in a similar vein as Sergio Asad, except normal humans can play the Pujol stuff. 😜

       

      The support I use is called a Dynarette. I really like it. It works great with jeans, but can slide around a lot on dress pants. Some people use those sticky cabinet liner sheet thingies between their pants and the dynarette. 

Content aside

  • 13 hrs agoLast active
  • 45Replies
  • 87Views
  • 10 Following