Week 4
Attention all tonebuddies! Are you ready to embark on a journey of musical creativity and exploration? Join our Arrangement & Transcription Challenge and discover the joy of reimagining music for the classical guitar!
Over the next four weeks, we’ll celebrate the art of transforming works from other instruments, ensembles, or even genres into stunning guitar performances. From Albéniz and Granados to Piazzolla, Bach, Scarlatti, or even your own favorite songs — everything goes!
🎯 Whether you choose to:
Work on a well-known transcription (Albéniz’s Asturias, Granados’s Danza Española, Piazzolla’s Libertango)
Create your own arrangement from scratch
Compare different versions and share your insights
…this is your chance to dive deep into the creative process and share your journey with the tonebase community.
This challenge is open to all levels — from curious beginners discovering their first transcription to experienced players refining their own arrangements. Let’s celebrate the versatility and expressive power of the guitar together!
📅 Challenge Dates
Start: November 11
End: December 11
👉 Join anytime by introducing your project in the comments below!
💡 How to Participate
Pick your piece – Choose an arrangement or transcription that excites you.
Share your goal – Are you learning, arranging, or refining?
Post your progress – Upload short clips, notes, or reflections as you go.
Engage – Encourage others, ask questions, and exchange arranging tips!
🎥 Watch Party Reminder
The Watch Party on December 11 will feature recorded submissions from this challenge!
So make sure to submit your final performance videos and showcase your creative work!
113 replies
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Here is a video of my struggle with the second phrase of Bach’s sInfonia. It feels like one of the most difficult passages I tried to learn recently. Maybe the most difficult ever… not because of virtuosity. The difficulty lies in the stretches, fast shifts and voicing. Keeping the bass chords steady, clear and moving while letting the upper voice breathe and vibrate. I probably won’t be able to record a final version, but I’m still working on it.
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Here is a transcription of Spanish Dance #2 by Granados, originally for piano. It has generally been played as a guitar Duo, but there have been a few solo arrangements out there.
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Here's my week 4 submissions. Still working on the Dedicatoria. It feels pretty good, but I still have the occasional pause as I try to remember where it's going. It's always that last 10% that takes forever to get the piece where you want it. Overall I'm pretty happy with the progress this month.
I'm also submitting a Weiss Fantasie transcribed by Karl Sheit. I've been working on this one for a long time so it is definitely further along.
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I'm trying some ragtime for this challenge. This is "The Easy Winners", a Scott Joplin favorite. To get the jaunty rhythm I am looking for, I found I needed to up the tempo considerably which of course makes the fingerpicking that much more challenging. Still not quite happy with it, but I think there are some good things emerging.