Week 3 - The Empire Strikes Back ⚔️

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. 🎸⚔️

84 replies

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    • mgshirk
    • 3 days ago
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    Unfortunately, I have been remiss in posting any videos over the past two weeks as I've been on the road traveling. Hope to be back at it this weekend. 

      • BLaflamme
      • Yesterday
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      I hope to hear something from you soon!

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    • Jack_Stewart
    • 2 days ago
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    Gubaidulina April Day MT #5  update

    I think this is somewhat better than my first post. I am still not content with the opening section. I have always struggled with open sparse lines. It is also difficult to get any sense of legato with the rapid major and minor 2nd harmonies. But I feel this comes closer to making sense of this piece.

    Note: I previously listed this as May Day but the correct title is April Day (as in April showers - which this purportedly illustrates).

      • Dale_Needles
      • 2 days ago
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       Good progress on this challenging piece.  The title April Day makes more sense when you think of April rain showers which definitely come to mind when listening to it. I also like the frenetic dissonance of the piece which you capture well. 

      • Steve_Price
      • 2 days ago
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       That's awesome, Jack. Playing all those dissonant dyads (?) so cleanly is impressive. And you really get in and out of the highest positions well. Really impressive. 

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      • Jack_Stewart
      • 2 days ago
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       Thanks, Dale. Gubaidulina does a good job writing very discordant lines that make sense. And to think this is a piece for young pianists.

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      • Jack_Stewart
      • 2 days ago
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       Thanks, Steve. Yeah, those crunchy dyads, the high tessitura and large leaps continue to challenge me.

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      • Jim_king
      • 2 days ago
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       Good progress Jack.  I agree that the title of April Day makes more sense.  There are clearly sounds that remind you of an April rain shower.  However, if you think of May Day as in the distress call signal, then the music fits that as well given all of the dissonance in the piece.  Regardless of the title, its coming along well.

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      • Andre_Bernier
      • 2 days ago
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       Dam, just the name of the piece 👍is complicated. Great job Jack. 

      • Ron.3
      • 2 days ago
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       Really great progress Jack. I think it was Flanders & Swan who wrote -"April brings the sweet spring showers, they go on for hours & hours" but unfortunately this piece is over all too quickly! 😂

      • joosje
      • 2 days ago
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      • joosje
      • Yesterday
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       that’s just great stuff, Jack. Well done. She has such a fascinating way of creating tension and relaxation - though here more tension than relaxation, April is the most tensed month of the year….? For me that makes sense. You bring this out here clearly. Have you shared the score here somewhere? Are there any signs of dynamics? It feels like the piece all sounds mf>f. It’s a piano composition. The piece she wrote for guitar (Serenata)  is very colour oriented, with dynamics pp to f.

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      • Jack_Stewart
      • Yesterday
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       Thanks Jim. I was probably thinking "May Day' while try to learn this piece!😖

      • Retired
      • Jack_Stewart
      • Yesterday
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      Thanks Andre.

      • Retired
      • Jack_Stewart
      • Yesterday
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       Thanks Ron. 

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      • Jack_Stewart
      • Yesterday
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      •  Thanks Joosje. There are not a lot of dynamics in the score (which I have.I just included it here along with my transcription.).  I'm afraid my use of dynamics weren't very noticeable. With the way my nails and RH callouses are make it difficult for me to get a lot of color,  
      • BTW, my current preferred piano recording is by Marcela Roggeri. However she plays the Storm much more subdued.)
      • BLaflamme
      • Yesterday
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       This is awesome Jack, I very like what you're doing with this... I would be interested in reading your transcription if you are willing to share it... very good stuff! 👌💪

      • Retired
      • Jack_Stewart
      • Yesterday
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      Thanks Blaise. I actually have included both the piano score (the 1st pdf) and my transcription (the 2nd pdf).

      • BLaflamme
      • Yesterday
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       Oh wow... I didn't see that you had already shared them, thanks!

      • Steve_Price
      • Yesterday
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       Thanks for the scores. I might have said it before, but your engraving is fantastic. I have a lot of newer scores that aren't even close to yours in terms of quality. 

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    • Andre_Bernier
    • 2 days ago
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    Here is another piece that I worked on and off for quite a while. After watching  videos, I just dust off this Vals from Bartolome Calatuyud. 

      • joosje
      • Yesterday
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       very nice Andre. I remember it as one of the first pieces I really loved, when I had my first years of study. Good pulse and phrasing. Maybe try to find different colours (p.e. change RH towards the soundhole or fingerboard to obtain a more mellow sound in the repetition)

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      • Jack_Stewart
      • Yesterday
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       Really good performance, Andre. Your playing has improved considerably since you started here. Joosje's comments sound like good advice and I think you are ready for that.

      Great job.

      • BLaflamme
      • Yesterday
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       Very well played André, about the sound maybe you could find a better spot for your microphone, a bit lower?

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      • Andre_Bernier
      • Yesterday
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       Thanks Joosje for your comments. when I started playing this piece, I was much closer and probably on top of the sound hole. I felt the the sound was a bit muddy. I feel now the sound is more clear and sharp. However, I probably wnet too far and could go back a bit closer to the sound hole. I will keep working on that and we will see if it help on the next recording.

      Thanks again 😉

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      • Andre_Bernier
      • Yesterday
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       I am not the expert, but on Martin's 101 course, I felt I had to put the microphone higher than the sound hole. Maybe I am to high. What do you mean by a bit lower? Should I also get closer?

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