The Big Finale: Sharing & Celebrating! 
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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El Albaicin is a piano piece by Issac Albeniz from his Iberia suite that evokes the atmosphere of Granada's gypsy quarter.
This is a recording I just made, trying to play mostly from memory. It obviously still needs much work, but wanted to submit this "work in process" for the challenge.
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Barney This is amazing, Barney - both technically and musically. I don’t believe I have ever heard this piece before. It is wonderful and you demonstrate how well it works on guitar. And the you can play it from memory! 11 minutes! ( I understand you said mostly and that this is a work in progress…… but still..) Thanks very much for sharing wonderful transcriptions and performance.
Btw what transcription is this?
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Jack Stewart Thanks very much, Jack! This is probably my favorite selection from the Iberia suite, but it is long (10 pages, which could not fit on the music stands, haha), so I needed to try to memorize it. Unfortunately, the memory failed in a few spots, but only enough strength to do this one take. This transcription for guitar was by Jorge Caballero.
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Barney Good job Barney, this piece its not easy , likewise other Albeniz ones. Have you look into the posibility to play it with a capo on second fret?? I see ( hear ) this piece is an andalusian cadenza resolving on Fa#(F#).....flamenco players would use capo on second fret.....let me know if feasible, so I can try it.....withouth capo I feel it very dificult/tiring for the left hand.
on the other hand you have a very good sound , what gear do you use for recording??
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JUAN ALONSO Thanks Juan. I have not considered using a capo for this piece, since the range may cause difficulty on the neck in the very high positions. (Perhaps with a cutaway model guitar, it may be more feasible.) Also, I think it would reduce the bass resonance which I feel is needed for impact.
Yes, there is a Flamenco Bulerias influence in the composing. I'm wondering how this piece would sound on a flamenco guitar, with its more percussive sound and lower action. Do you own one? (I don't).
I'm using a pair of Line Audio CM4 microphones with a Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 interface and Reaper DAW.
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