Week 6:Reflections on the Journey: Final Touches 
End of the Year Challenge: "Finish Strong!" 
As the year comes to a close, it's the perfect time to look back on your guitar journey, celebrate your progress, and set the stage for a powerful finish! Whether you've been steadily refining a piece all year, revisiting past favorites, or holding onto that "one day" project, now’s the time to bring it to life. Let’s wrap up this year with a final push, together!
Challenge Theme: Complete, Conquer, and Celebrate!
Goal:
Choose one guitar piece or project that has been on your list this year. This might be a piece you’ve been working on in lessons, something you’ve always wanted to learn but never started, or a performance you’d like to polish. Dedicate the final weeks of the year to bringing it to completion—whatever "finished" means for you!
Challenge Options:
Complete a Piece: If you’ve been working on a piece throughout the year, let’s aim to bring it to the finish line. Focus on refining tricky sections, memorizing it, or even recording it as a performance!
Start & Finish a New Piece: Is there a piece that’s been sitting on your "someday" list? Dive in! Start fresh, put in dedicated practice time, and see how far you can get by the end of the year.
Polish for Performance: Got a piece you can already play but want to perfect? Use this time to iron out the details and maybe even perform it for friends, family, or the tonebase community!
Challenge Guidelines:
Set Your Goals: Decide on the piece or project and set a few concrete goals (e.g., "play smoothly at tempo," "record a full video," or "memorize all sections").
Share Your Journey: Post your progress, questions, and reflections with the community! Let us know what you're working on, why you chose it, and any hurdles you’re overcoming.
Celebrate the Wins: At the end of the challenge, share your "finished" version! Whether it’s a recording, a progress update, or simply sharing your reflections, let’s celebrate together.
Dates:
This challenge runs from now until December 30th. Finish the year with a sense of accomplishment and the motivation to take on new pieces in the coming year!
Why Join?
This isn’t just about completing a piece; it’s about proving to yourself what you can achieve with focus and support. Join us for a fun, collaborative way to end the year on a high note. 
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Sor - Andante Op 32 No 5
Here is a gussied up version of the Sor I posted last week.
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Eric Phillips Very nicely played, Eric. You really have a feel for Sor's music and while you always play his music so well, I think you out did yourself with this one. What did you do to "gussied" it up?
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Dale Needles Thanks, Dale. All I meant by “gussied up” is that I’ve practiced it more - fewer mistakes and hopefully more expressive than my post from last week. I also played around with some camera trickery.
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Eric Phillips I really like your articulation in this piece, Eric. Your separation of voices and clear musical ideas are excellent.Beatiful!
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Eric Phillips Your recording sounds like maybe a little more reverb was added, but in any case, the sound was very nice and impressive.
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Well, I am finally back playing again after being away from the guitar for two months while my wife and I were traveling in Portugal and Spain, although I did have a few days of practice on the trip as I was fortunate to encounter a guitar at a couple of places that we stayed. In any case, it is great to be back practicing and to finish off the year with Microestudio No. 9 by Abel Carlevaro. Carlevaro published a set of 20 Microestudios in the 1990s. These short little studies are a great way to become acquainted with Carlevaro's musical language as well as to improve on one's technique. I also want to give a shot out to Wai who has been methodically going through all the Microestudios over the past year. My goal for the coming year is to continue my journey through Carlevaro's substantial body of solo guitar compositions with a focus on some of his last compositions that he wrote. Happy Holidays to all!
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Dale Needles Welcome Back, Dale, and it’s great to hear your playing again!
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Dale Needles Wow, such great control with both hands, I always love your clean and warm tone Dale, I wish I could achieve a similar sound someday. I haven't played all the studies yet, still have no.19 and no.20, but I was sidetracked by Giuliani's music, learning no.19 and no.20 would be my New Year's resolution! Merry Christmas!
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Dale Needles Beautifully played, Dale. Your tone control and articulation really brings this music to life. An amazing job in such a short time considering how complex this music is.
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Jack Stewart Thanks, Jack. This is one of my favorites of the Microestudios and I had never recorded it, so it was fun to relearn it and record it. It was a good way to get back into the guitar after being away for two months. How is the trip going? Can't wait to hear about it when you return.
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Wai Thanks, Wai. You have a great sound so no issues there and having gone through 18 of the 20 Microestudios is no small feat. Looking forward to hearing 19 and 20, which I have never studied.
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Eric Phillips Thanks and great to be back, well kind of great, still worried about what is going on in Washington.
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Dale Needles I hear you. If my wife and I didn’t have two teenage children, we would seriously consider moving out of the country.
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