"Easy Pieces" Mini Challenge
HELLO TONEBUDDIES! 
We're excited to bring you a fresh mini challenge that aligns with our upcoming live stream featuring the renowned guitarist Stanley Yates! As he deciphers the notion of "easy" guitar pieces, we thought it'd be fun for our tonebuddies to join in on the exploration and challenge their own musical growth! 
THE CHALLENGE:
We invite you to record and upload a video of yourself performing a piece that you consider to be "easy" on the guitar. Discover the hidden depth within the simplicity and share how you're engaging with the piece in new and profound ways.
HOW TO PARTICIPATE:
Record a video of yourself performing your chosen "easy" piece. Upload your video to your preferred platform (e.g., YouTube, Vimeo, etc.). Share the link to your video in the comments section below. Don't forget to include a brief description about your chosen piece and what insights you've gained from revisiting it.
Bonus Points: Share a link to a performance of your chosen piece by a renowned guitarist!
INTERACT AND ENGAGE:
This is a great chance to engage with your fellow tonebuddies! Show your support by leaving comments, offering constructive feedback, and expressing appreciation for their performances. Let's inspire each other to delve deeper into the music we thought we knew.
REWARD:
There isn't a physical prize, but the reward lies in your personal growth, the feedback you'll receive, and the connections you'll forge with other guitar enthusiasts. Who knows? You may even strike a chord with someone new!
NEED INSPIRATION?
If you're unsure about which piece to pick, don't worry! Tune into the upcoming livestream with Stanley Yates. His insights into the hidden depth within "easy" pieces will surely spark your imagination.
READY, SET, RE-DISCOVER!
We're eager to see your fresh interpretations of familiar tunes and hear about your new insights. Let's join together to explore the uncharted depths of the "easy" pieces we thought we knew!
HAPPY PRACTICING, TONEBUDDIES! 
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I love playing simpler music and working on the details. Here are a couple pieces I thought of when this mini-challenge was announced:
- Carulli - Andantino Op 241 No 5 So simple, but so beautiful. I have heard it played faster, but I like it on the slow side.
- Coste - Study 4 Opus 38 I'm not sure if this should be called "easy". I'd probably grade it as early intermediate. I think it is very charming, and underplayed.
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Eric Phillips thanks for sharing those 2 little pieces, I didn't know this Coste study, very well played!
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Eric Phillips I really enjoyed the Coste piece. Thank you for making your recording available. I have it on my "want to play" list now!
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David Thanks! I really like this opus. Nothing in it is really easy (like the Carulli) but several of them are early intermediate pieces, like this one. It’s like Sor, but just a little more of the Romantic era flare (although his compositions are not as elegant as Sor’s).
His opus 51 is also good. A bit easier. The later ones in it are particularly nice.
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Grade 1-3 pieces are getting a but easier for this novice adult student of the guitar. Would it be appropriate for me to participate despite the fact that my “easy” is embarrassingly low compared to those I see posting more regularly here on TB? I am excited about the S. Yates presentation coming up ; I have recently engaged with his method books on a recommendation from a fellow TobeBaser. Thank you.
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David Of course, David, it is appropriate for everyone to participate. I find that, in playing an instrument, it is never easy to play anything well, and every piece of music is worthy of all of our effort. I hope we hear from you soon!
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David I agree with Eric, it's appropriate to everyone to participate regardless the level and as he said nothing is really easy to play as you engage more with the music and refine details to ensure deeper expression of the ideas.
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David David - I would encourage your participation. The act of recording with the goal of posting to the forum causes me to really pay attention to details in my practice sessions that I otherwise ignore. And it give me a positive feeling of accomplishment. So I would say - GO FOR IT!
Martha Kreipke
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Until I record some other easy pieces, like Eric here's my version of Carulli's Andantino Op 241 #5 posted last year around the same time, in fact the day I got this guitar!
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Blaise Laflamme I remember this well, and it's every bit as beautiful now as it was then!
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Eric Phillips Thank you Eric, it's at least the same
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Blaise Laflamme Very beautiful!
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Dale Needles Thank you Dale
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For some reason, I felt like playing some lute music tonight. I figured that it would be a good idea to post a few pieces here, since my very limited abilities on the lute leave me with no other option than playing “easy” pieces. I apologize ahead of time for the occasional “twangy-ness” of my playing, especially on the open first string.
- Hans Judenkunig – Christ ist erstanden This piece has just two voices in perfect rhythmic unison.
- Anonymous – Untitled from the Jane Pickering Lute Book A simple but beautiful melody, supported only by a few bass notes.
- Hans Newsidler – Preambel This one is a little more complex, but still very playable. Newsidler wrote a lot of nice beginner pieces. This has such great polyphony, somewhat like Francesco da Milano's fantasias. (Note: Two of Newsidler’s sons were also lutenists and composers, and their music was generally much more difficult to play than their father’s music.)
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martin is this a trick challenge? Was it you who said there are only easy pieces or impossible pieces. Nothing in between?
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don I like that idea! I think that statement could be true in at least a couple ways. First, if it’s a piece you have the technique to play, it’s easy, and if not, it’s impossible. Second, any “easy” piece is impossible to play “perfectly” since there is always infinitely more work that can be done, and infinitely more ways to interpret it.
I’d be curious what Martin had in mind when he said that.
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don Eric Phillips
But in all seriousness, I was referring to a concept by Marco Tamayo. You should not think "oh, this is difficult", when performing a difficult task, similar as a tightrope walker wouldn't think "Oh, this is actually pretty damn dangerous". But his idea is also that a passage needs to work somewhat after ten repetitions. If not, one should look out for better fingerings or working on the core movements!
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martin Eric Phillips I kinda agree to an extend but I think there should a caveat to whom it applies to. You need a certain level of technical and musical ability before you can say fingering doesn't work after 10 tries because you need years to build up that muscle memory and skills. If you give up too soon you won't be able to build up that skill.
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Hello fellow guitarists ;)
Some time ago I recorded "Bella Ciao", an Italian popular theme that I decided to personally arrange in this short version.
Given that the term "easy" is decidedly subjective, in fact this piece is not so in some respects, however I think it is "easy" in terms of memorization, technique and melodic leadability.
A musical hug to all of you :)
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Fabrizio Fortunato That was beautiful, Fabrizio! Thanks so much for sharing it. The arrangement sounds very natural, like it was written for the classical guitar. Great work!
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Eric Phillips thank you!
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Fabrizio Fortunato beautfiul. It kinda reminds me of Astor Piazolla's Oblivion.
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Fabrizio Fortunato beautiful Fabrizio, I want to hear more of you!!
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Hi everyone!
I have been studying some easy Fernando Sor etudes available here on Tonebase. I did want to join a community challenge earlier with these pieces, but with life and work and family happening I ended up missing the Sor mini-challenge and the etude challenge. So I figured out it would be nice to join this one.
Here is Op. 60, etude n. 9. I believe it is the easiest Sor piece here on Tonebase - it is ranked level 2. Still need to work on dynamics and make the last part of B section sound more natural. I´m also working on Op 60, n. 14, but haven´t recorded yet. Will share it here soon.
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Bruno Calixto Sounding great, Bruno! I really love this whole opus, both musically and didactically. I hope we get to hear number 14 as well (one of my absolute favorites). Those Sanal Redzic lessons on Sor's etudes are really great.
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