Week 2 - Into the Dojo 🥋

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. 🎸⚔️

190 replies

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    • Eric
    • 8 days ago
    • Reported - view

    Standchen May 16

    Inch-by-inch ...

      • joosje
      • 7 days ago
      • Reported - view

       beautiful. I really enjoyed listening. It’s getting more fluent and lyrical. (I listened this recording first). The piece is worth your efforts. 

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

       So nice. Well done Eric. 👍

      • BLaflamme
      • 7 days ago
      • Reported - view

       Consistent and solid progress, you definitely know your learning process!

      • Retired
      • Jim_king
      • 7 days ago
      • Reported - view

       Sounds beautiful Eric.  Thank you for sharing.

    • joosje
    • 7 days ago
    • Reported - view

    Part IV of Houghton’s Ophelia.

    WATER…..memories - halls of ghosts - wash away.
    ‘There with fantastic garlands did she come’

    The markings by the composer are: ‘flowing, rippling, singing, LV as much as possible. With gathering intensity to the ‘apex’ at bar 61’. (The chords at the end, starting at fffff diminuendo to p). ‘Subsiding, …. drifting back …. into a dream’

    maybe it’s a bit too fast. And it needs more contrast in the dynamics
    Btw the tuning is 6>Eflat, 5>G

    I hope next week will give me more time to work on the challenge.
    My exam is this Wednesday.

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

       Very inspiring piece. Well done. I agree with you that it could be slightly slower at least in some sections. And good luck with your exam. All Tonebudies are behind you 👍

      • Dale_Needles
      • 7 days ago
      • Reported - view

       Very nice! It definitely has an emb and flow to it and takes you on a journey. I enjoyed listening to it. Good success with your  exams!

      • BLaflamme
      • 7 days ago
      • Reported - view

       Very enjoyable performance Joosje, this tuning makes the guitar sounds in a beautiful way, and you make it shine... Good luck with the upcoming exam!

      • Retired
      • Jim_king
      • 7 days ago
      • Reported - view

       Beautiful playing Joosje.  I enjoyed the storytelling you achieved in this piece.  All the best on your exam.

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

       Beautiful, Joosje. I sometimes lose interest in very 'atmospheric' pieces but this really holds my attention. I think Houghton does an excellent job with the dissonance which gives this piece a lot of character. thanks for sharing this. 

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

       Wonderful playing Joosje - good luck with the exam!

      • Nijwm_Bwiswmuthiary
      • 6 days ago
      • Reported - view

       wow, that's so beautiful, Joosje. I could picture a story in this piece, the beginning is like this rousing from a setback, the middle section with some turbulence and the end towards some sort of uneasy, but tragic resolution. Whatever it is, you played so beautifully. I'm sure your evaluator will give you top marks!

      • Steve_Price
      • 6 days ago
      • Reported - view

       Well-played and such a great piece. I love the edginess of it. Unsettling in a good way, which makes sense considering the subject matter. Good luck!

      • joosje
      • 6 days ago
      • Reported - view

              

      great to be surrounded by such great TB buddies. Thank you for listening and also for you encouraging words. 

      • Eric
      • 5 days ago
      • Reported - view

       This is so beautiful, Joosje! I imagine it must be very satisfying to play. I am curious if your score is in standard notation or if it is tablature. I know I would struggle with standard notation and that tuning.

      • joosje
      • 5 days ago
      • Reported - view

       thank you Eric. It’s standard notation but with a twist. The notes on 5&6 are given as if tuned normally. So, what you see is not what you get. Weird, but somehow easy to adjust (with some practice)

      • Eric
      • 5 days ago
      • Reported - view

       That makes sense. I don't think I have ever seen a score that does that (except maybe with harmonics). I'm sure it would really bother a person with perfect pitch.

      • Debbie
      • 5 days ago
      • Reported - view

       I love this Joosje. You brought out the sense of water and the following description. The music takes you on a flowing trip into the underworld it seems with many twists and turns. You will ace your exam 👍 

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

       I love this rendition!!! Good luck with your exam, I am sure you will pass, youmplay sooo good.

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

    Ok, my turn after all these great posting. 

    I have been working for few weeks (I am much slower than Eric) on something that is way out of my league (Villa-Lobos Prelude no.1) but using the new track on Tonebase. I have to say that with the help of  's instruction in the track, I am able to very slowly progress in the piece. 

    This recording is today's practice of the bar 1-12. Still need much work but it is progressing.

      • Retired
      • Jim_king
      • 7 days ago
      • Reported - view

       Well done Andre.  You're off to a great start.

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

       Wow Andre! This is such a big step in complexity but you seem to be on track. Keep up the good work

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

       Great start Andre and a big shift in repertoire 

      • BLaflamme
      • 6 days ago
      • Reported - view

       As others pointed out, a big step in difficulty! 💪 Let us know how you like the Tonebase Track as you progress!

      • Nijwm_Bwiswmuthiary
      • 6 days ago
      • Reported - view

       well played, Andre. Happy to see you try this piece. Looking forward to your progress.

Content aside

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