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. 🎸⚔️

161 replies

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

    BWV 996 Prelude 

    I finally made a (almost) reasonable recording of the complete BWV 996 Prelude, at least until the final chord. 🙄  This recording was the next to last of a long string of attempts. So it stands as is for now.

    Hello? Is anyone here? Am I too late? Oh man, These challenges are never long enough! (sigh)

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

       Thanks Steve. The presto is a beast though I find the preludio to be almost as challenging musically. Its disjointed phrases and rapid flourishes are difficult for me to stitch together into a coherent piece.

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

       Thanks Barney,

      Bach is a multiple lifelong challenge. Maybe if I was a cat it would be confined to a lifetime.😄

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

       Thanks Dale. This is a major accomplishment for me. I want to make another recording (with the final chord!) to post on YTI.  still have refinements I want to pursue - over time. I only have the Sarabande and Gigue left. The Sarabande has similar challenges as the prelude section presented. And then the Gigue. Oh well....

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

       Thanks Jim. 

      I wanted to post this here since I had started it for the Challenge. I was making light of my 'tardiness'.😀

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

       So glad you posted this Jack - fantastic!!1

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

       Thanks Ron. I actually posted this here now as a lark.  I am surprised there have been so many comments.

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

       Well it's inspired me to see if there's a piece of Bach I might be able to tackle!

    • Retired
    • Lars_KjollerHansen
    • 17 hrs ago
    • Reported - view

     👍👋Wow. This has really developed great and your work and patience is really rewarded. Congratultions. I guess for some it would be easy to replace the last bars with some DAW editing and some video tricks. I am still stuck with Fantasias and Fandanguillos so yes challenges are never long enough or are they just lifelong. Remember to keep this piece in your schedule.

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

       Thanks Lars, I really do need to keep this my active repertoire because it has taken me so long to get to this point. My problem is that when I learn a new piece it tends to absorb all of my attention because I am so slow at learning new pieces. Anyway, I hope to get a good recording soon. I think on this one I reached the final cadence and thought "oh wow, I made it,,,,,,,, opps." As to slicing out mistakes, that is way beyond my pay grade.

    • Palmer
    • 9 hrs ago
    • Reported - view

    Well done, Jack!

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

      Thanks Palmer.

Content aside

  • 10 hrs agoLast active
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