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. 🎸⚔️

124 replies

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    • Debbie
    • Yesterday
    • Reported - view

    Hi everyone! I've worked on the Intro and A section this week even though I don't think this recording shows proof of that. haha. I can definitely hear things that need more work. The intro is a bit weak and sounds unsure and the descending scale got flubby. The A section needs a steadier tempo for the bass line even if I try to slightly rubato the melody. Back to the woodshed for this section and I'll start revisiting the next (B) section for next week. 

      • Eric
      • Yesterday
      • Reported - view

       Sounding good, so far, Debbie. You seem to be working it solidly into your hands.

      • BLaflamme
      • Yesterday
      • Reported - view

       That's a great start Debbie, better is to work slow and slowly to build all necessary mechanisms to ensure a good flow and understanding of what's going on!

      • Amateur guitarist/lutenist
      • David_Krupka
      • Yesterday
      • Reported - view

       Great start, Debbie. I think many of the small faults you're noticing will work themselves out with greater familiarity. Personally, I like to let a section that has reached this state lie dormant for a day or two before trying to iron out the details, as this allows me to approach whatever has been achieved with fresh ears. So I'd be moving on to the next section right away. (I'm not suggesting that this is what one should do, just describing the way I happen to work - obviously, your method is producing great results!) I notice you're playing a different guitar (beautiful instrument, btw!) here than the one you used for the Sor study. I hope this is an indication that your hand issues are resolving!

      • Debbie
      • Yesterday
      • Reported - view

      thanks Eric. Hoping for that before and after photo as well!

      • Debbie
      • Yesterday
      • Reported - view

       “all necessary mechanisms” Indeed! I like that lol

      • Debbie
      • Yesterday
      • Reported - view

       thanks David! Slow and steady wins the race (tortoise and the hare).  Recording oneself and listening back is such a great teacher. This is my main guitar. It’s a handmade 630 scale, Imperial. I think this size is comfortable to play and imo is the smallest size that can perform the guitar repertoire convincingly. I think any smaller and it really becomes noticeable. My 610 Torres guitar is reserved for things I really otherwise can’t play on my Imperial or certain repertoire that I think suits it nicely. The therapy has helped stabilize my hand to not get worse but I’ll never play a standard size again. 

      • Retired
      • Jack_Stewart
      • 20 hrs ago
      • Reported - view

       This is very good, Debbie. I tried this piece years ago (decades actually) but could never get it to sound very convincing. This is a gravest start. Looking forward to seeing your progress.

      • Nijwm_Bwiswmuthiary
      • 19 hrs ago
      • Reported - view

       Excellent start for a first post for this challenge, Debbie. The sound quality of that guitar is excellent as well. I'd love to play a small scale guitar as I've never played one.

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

       Great start Debbie - like  I also tried this piece a number of decades ago! Really looking forward to following your progress.

      • joosje
      • 3 hrs ago
      • Reported - view

       that sounds good Debbie. Very nice sound, and you already seem to have good ideas about the phrasing and colouring. In this style of music you are free to experiment with the rubato and (more extreme) colours before you find the balance that suits best your ideas. We’ll hear more of this soon, I hope, so looking forward to that 

      • Retired
      • Andre_Bernier
      • 1 hr ago
      • Reported - view

      Very nice, Bravo 👍

    • Eric
    • Yesterday
    • Reported - view

    Standchen May 16

    Inch-by-inch ...

      • Amateur guitarist/lutenist
      • David_Krupka
      • Yesterday
      • Reported - view

       Inch by inch is good! (After all, it wasn't the hare who won the race.) The piece is coming together nicely. As always, I am struck by how cleanly you execute the little ornamental figures. It may be a small detail in the larger scheme of things, but very few amateurs ever master this. (I certainly haven't!) I've really enjoyed hearing you play this, even if it's still 'in progress'. The theme (and especially the three against two motif) has been in my head all week!

      • Nijwm_Bwiswmuthiary
      • 19 hrs ago
      • Reported - view

       Great progress on this, Eric. I'm really enjoying your work on this. I'm excited to hear your finished work on this.

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

       This is really sound good Eric - like Nijwm I'm really looking forward to hearing the finished business!

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

       Great work, Eric. You have made significant progress on this piece. I keep meaning to try to revive it and listening to your progress has just increased my motivation.

      Really looking forward to hearing more of this. Btw, I think my favorite version of this is by Petrit Ceku. His range of dynamics really creates a wonderfully dramatic performance.

      • joosje
      • 2 hrs 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
      • 1 hr ago
      • Reported - view

       So nice. Well done Eric. 👍

      • BLaflamme
      • 1 hr ago
      • Reported - view

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

    • joosje
    • 1 hr 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
      • 1 hr 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
      • 1 hr 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
      • 1 hr 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!

Content aside

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