Week 6: Rise of the Maestro

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. 🎸⚔️

138 replies

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

    BWV 996 Prelude. 1st posting

    This truly fits the topic for me. I started working on the BWV 996 Suite decades ago. I made it thru all but the Gigue in fairly rough form. I have been chipping away at it again for the last couple of years. I finally decided to try to get the Prelude/Fugue down. I have been working on the Prelude since about the 2nd - 3rd week and have finally gotten it to a place where I feel I am making some musical sense of it. It has been a real challenge for me. I found its rapid flourishes and fragmented structure really challenging. Oh yeah, and the trills (which I think are essential)!

    I will need to live with this for a while to get the phrasing and technical aspects under control but at lest this suggests I am on the right track. I have started the fugue but I don't know if I will be able to have it together for posting by Friday (WHAT! Friday! This Friday!). 

      • Retired
      • Jack_Stewart
      • 3 days ago
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      Opps 🤪. All this newfangled technology is SO confusing. 

      • Nijwm_Bwiswmuthiary
      • 3 days ago
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       Great work, Jack! Wow so many things going on in that prelude, especially the trills which you really played well. The only Bach I've dared to touch so far is bwv 999.

      • Retired
      • Lars_KjollerHansen
      • 3 days ago
      • Reported - view

       That is a good one. Seems pretty advanced in my ears. Wow, you tackle those baroque ornament really great- as rest of the piece

      • Steve_Price
      • 3 days ago
      • Reported - view

       Nice, Jack. I've messed with this before, and it's tough, but this sounds really good. 996 has always been my favorite of the lute suites, and a naive, earlier version of me planned on learning the entire thing. Some day. 

      • Dale_Needles
      • 3 days ago
      • Reported - view

       Very well done. Love the ornamentation.  

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

       Sounding good Jack.  Sounds like you are on the right track.  Looking forward to any further recordings you make on this piece.

    • Retired
    • Lars_KjollerHansen
    • 3 days ago
    • Reported - view

    Fantasia- Roberto Gerhard. A modern piece - just one year older than me.

    Roberto Gerhard studied with Felipe Pedrell (musical father of Albeniz , Granados etc.) and with Arnold Schönberg ( father of serial, atonal,”12 tone music”). Fascinating

    That is how far I got in 6 weeks. Recording not to good , stressful. Wish could have taken each  part in separate takes, so everything had come out as intended. With some months acquaintance I am confident  I will feel more comfortable playing and not training holding my breath for 4 min.  I am happy I got started on this unfinished thing.

    I don’t buy that thing with something being too difficult. Everybody can do  a marathon or climb Mount Everest but it requires patience and motivation.

    PS if you don’t enjoy the music please enjoy all the reflections in  my shining self French polished guitar

      • BLaflamme
      • 3 days ago
      • Reported - view

       That was a great take Lars, I both enjoyed the music and the reflections on your French polish! 😅💪 For sure working with multiple takes helps in bringing a more satisfying version where we can focus on different moods and sections, something really different than a one take performance! You've definitely made me want to learn this piece!

      • Retired
      • Lars_KjollerHansen
      • 3 days ago
      • Reported - view

       Thank you , Blaise. There is  a lesson on the piece on Tonebase. That is where I got to know the piece. There are other versions, but for now I stuck to try to play it like Alexandra Whittingham in the TB lesson

      • BLaflamme
      • 3 days ago
      • Reported - view

       Ok I was not aware this was here on TB, I'll check that out for sure, Thanks for the tip!

      • Nijwm_Bwiswmuthiary
      • 3 days ago
      • Reported - view

       I enjoyed both the music and the French polish, Lars. You've lit up this challenge with your prolific output and beutiful playing. Congratulations!

      • Steve_Price
      • 3 days ago
      • Reported - view

       That is such a cool piece of music, and really well-played. I really enjoyed that from start to finish. 

      • Barney
      • 3 days ago
      • Reported - view

       That looks like a fun piece to play. Fascinating dissonances, and rhythms.  You obviously are enjoying it, and so did I.   Seems like a piece one needs to live with for a while to explore its elements and to shape your interpretation.  Exciting to listen to-- well done Lars!

      The guitar's French polish high shine luster looks great!   Must have taken a lot of effort with each layer to get it right.

      • Dale_Needles
      • 3 days ago
      • Reported - view

       Wonderful performance.  This is very much the style of music that I am attracted to and am grateful you presented it for this Challenge.  

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

       this is a wonderful performance. Your improvement in such a short time is really impressive. This is a challenging and complex piece that you have a great command of.

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

       Great performance and great work over the last 6 weeks.  Hope you post another recording of this piece once you had some more time with it, although it sounds pretty good to me!

    • Nijwm_Bwiswmuthiary
    • 3 days ago
    • Reported - view

    final submission? Erm, I tried my best, although, there's always a lot to work on, a few squeaks, some difficult transitions and a struggle to maintain legato of the melody at certain points. But it is what it is for the moment.

      • Steve_Price
      • 3 days ago
      • Reported - view

       That's lovely, Nijwm. Really nice work on this challenge. 

      • BLaflamme
      • 3 days ago
      • Reported - view

       This is a great submission Nijwm! You play it with a beautiful tone, nice colours and phrasing, great work! 💪

      • Eric
      • 3 days ago
      • Reported - view

      This is so beautiful, Nijwm!

      • Barney
      • 3 days ago
      • Reported - view

       Excellent performance Nijwm!   This is a beautiful piece and very difficult for all of us to maintain legato in many parts due to short sustain on our little plucked instrument (especially in the high positions). Maybe it would be easier if played in a Church, for example.  In any case, I've found that adding vibrato in some of these spots helps , and selective use of Rubato adds interest.  Thanks for posting it .  I enjoyed your beautiful playing very much!

      • Dale_Needles
      • 3 days ago
      • Reported - view

       Beautiful, Nijwm. You made excellent progress with this and your tone fits it so well.  Congrats.

      • Nijwm_Bwiswmuthiary
      • 3 days ago
      • Reported - view

           Thank you for the kind words.🙏

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

       Great performance, Nijwm. You maintained a wonderful separation of voices, very well balanced and the high notes were beautifully clear. Great work.

      • Retired
      • Lars_KjollerHansen
      • 3 days ago
      • Reported - view

       Very well played and enjoyable to listen to👏🏻

Content aside

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