Home Country Hero Mini Challenge
GREETINGS TONEBUDDIES! 
Our musical journey continues! This month, we’re venturing into a challenge that pays homage to our roots. As each of us possesses a unique musical heritage, what better way to celebrate than by diving deep into the melodies that have shaped our cultures, identities, and histories? Let's embark on the "Home Country Hero Challenge" together and weave a tapestry of diverse soundscapes. 
THE CHALLENGE:
We invite you to record and upload a video of yourself performing a piece by a composer from your home country or your heritage. Dive deep into the traditions, styles, and stories that these compositions bring to the fore and enlighten us on how they resonate with your own cultural connection. Feel free to share a composition from another country than your own, if you have something that you deeply connect with!
HOW TO PARTICIPATE:
Record a video of yourself performing your chosen piece from your home country. Upload your video to your preferred platform (e.g., YouTube, Vimeo, etc.). Share the link to your video in the comments section below. Along with your performance, narrate a short backstory of the composer and the significance of the piece in your culture.
Bonus Points: Share a link to a performance of your chosen piece by a renowned guitarist from your country!
INTERACT AND ENGAGE:
Let's travel the world through our strings! Engage with your fellow tonebuddies by leaving comments, offering constructive feedback, and expressing appreciation for their cultural revelations. Let’s connect deeper, not just through music but through our shared human stories.
REWARD:
While there's no tangible prize, the reward lies in the bridges we build, the knowledge we share, and the connections we foster with guitarists worldwide. You might just find yourself inspired by a faraway land!
READY, SET, EXPLORE!
We're keen to embark on this global musical voyage with you, uncovering hidden gems and rediscovering national treasures. Let's celebrate the diversity and richness that each of our musical heritages brings to the global guitar community.
HAPPY PLUCKING, TONEBUDDIES! 
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Something completely different from here. Annette Kruisbrink is a Dutch guitarist and composer (born in Amsterdam ). I am planning to practice her piece Ahimsa. To get to know her sound and language I tried some pieces from her educational series “ Knock before you enter”
these 2 pieces I chose are not too complicated, but with a bit melancholic, meditative mood, especially compared to Eric’s nice and groovy sound. Hope you’ll appreciate them anyway.
after this I’ll try to find something more lively.
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joosje These are SO beautiful, Joosje! I particularly like the harmonics in Sad Song,
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joosje These are really beautiful, Joosje. I especially like the Quiet Song. I must check out more of Annette Kruisbrink. Thanks for sharing this with us.
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joosje Joosje thanks for sharing these beautiful pieces. It's always great to hear works from a new (to me) composer.. Look forward to hearing Ahimsa!
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joosje beautifully played with intimacy and delicacy. I once listened to a few works by her and it was not as interesting as those, thank you for sharing.
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joosje Absolutely lovely! Thanks for a beautiful interlude in my evening! Nice to meet a new composer.
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Eric Phillips Jack Stewart Ron Blaise Laflamme Marilyn Blodget thanks for listening. I’m happy with your kind words. She deserves this appreciation. She wrote a lot for different levels. I like that.
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joosje Both great pieces. I really love the Sad song. Thanks for sharing.
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joosje So beautiful, i listened to Annette playing this and I think that you would make her proud.
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Bogdanovic Monk-A-Ning
I am trying to revive and refine this one from a previous challenge. This posting is fairly good but still has some roughness and stumbles to it. Overall, my playing of this piece has gotten a lot better, even if it is no apparent in this (or any other of my recordings). I think I should be able to make a good video by the end of the week.
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Jack Stewart I am also including a YT of Monk and his group playing his composition Rhythm-A-Ning. It is a great example of his wonderfully quirky style (and is also where Bogdanovic got his name for his Tribute to Monk).
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Jack Stewart this sounds really good Jack, a very interesting work by Bogdanovic.
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Jack Stewart Not sure what happened to the Monk video but here is the link:
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Blaise Laflamme Thanks, Blaise. Bogdanovic is pretty amazing. This is from a 2 vol. collection of jazz composition he wrote in the style of different jazz composers
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Jack Stewart Groovy Jack! So much fun! Thanks!
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Marilyn Blodget Thanks Marilyn
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Jack Stewart didn’t know you had Serbian roots, Jack. Great playing. You make it sound as a real fun piece. Which it’s meant to be, of course… and Dusan Bogdanovic’s pieces are never easy to play. So good.
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joosje Thanks, Joosje. My Serbian family connection goes back thru Africa about 50,000 years ago (when Homo sapiens ventured forth into Europe).
I had originally mentioned the rather backhanded connection of this work (Monk thru Bogdanovic) but somehow that never got posted. When I rewrote the intro I forgot to mention it. -
Jack Stewart Very cool!
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Dale Needles Thanks Dale. The piece may be cool, but I am sweating to get thru it!
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Jack Stewart I think this would sound awesome on an electric guitar with some pedals.
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don Thanks Don.
When my daughter took up bass guitar around age 12, I got out my electric guitar so we could maybe play together. She was horrified at the thought of playing in a band with her dad, so I put my electric guitar away.
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Gershwin - Summertime
I thought I would try another one of Stan Ayeroff's Gershwin arrangements. This one is a hit song from the musical Porgy and Bess. As a teacher, I am sad to see the title of this song coming to an end.
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Eric Phillips Awesome! Always loved this and summertime!
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Eric Phillips WHAT!? This song is no longer going to be called Summertime!? That's not sad - That's an outrage!
Great performance, Eric. This seems like a nice collection. which is unfortunately out of print.
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Jack Stewart No need for outrage. Gershwin actually asked that the title of the song change with the passing of the seasons. That way, he could keep up with Vivaldi while only writing one piece of music.
Yes, I've heard it's out of print. I'll sell you my copy for $1000.
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