Week 1: A New Hope

Dominic_Cheli
6 days ago
146replies

Starting on May 4th...

Welcome to the Unfinished Business Challenge — and the beginning of our four-week musical adventure!

Every great journey starts with a first step (and some hope!) This week is about choosing your piece: something you’ve always wanted to learn, something you started and left behind, or something unfinished that keeps calling you back.

This Week’s Mission

Choose one piece (or excerpt) to stay with throughout the challenge.

A few ideas:

A piece you’ve always meant to finish
Something abandoned years ago that deserves a second life
A new piece you’ve been waiting for the right moment to begin
A small excerpt from a larger dream piece

Big or small, all choices are welcome. What matters is that it feels like your unfinished business.

This Week, Share:

What piece did you choose?
Why this piece?
Is there a musical challenge or goal you hope to work through this month?

If you’d like, post a recording of where you’re starting from — even a rough first read. We’d love to hear it.

Over the next four weeks we’ll build momentum together!

- Der Wanderer
- FRANZ_SCHUBERT
- Yesterday
- Reported - view
Having been inspired by the Live-stream today, I must say in regards to one of the points from Dominic that boredom has never been an issue for me (as a reason for leaving pieces). The main issue is always that the Unfinished Business list is long and keeps growing and can distract. The contributing factor in this is Tonebase as everyone here (yes I'm looking at you) keeps reminding me of pieces that I want to work on or need to revisit. Let's just say, Sindre, is the latest example of this as you will see shortly (thank you very much!).

I have a list of four pieces. I am going to pick one for this next month. The others will follow hopefully in the time left in 2026. It is time to remove the cobwebs away and revive the past and take care of unfinished business!

1) Beethoven: 32 Variationen in c minor

2) Schumann: Fantasie Opus 17 in C major, 1st movement

3) Rachmaninoff: Moment Musical No. 1 in b-flat minor

4) Chopin: Scherzo No. 2 in b-flat minor (yes, this one is Sindre's fault. Thanks for the reminder ;-))

It will be a struggle session today. I'll test out the waters today and see which way my mood will take me. Hopefully, I'll know soon.
- Ken_Radford
- Yesterday
- Reported - view
Hi,

I mentioned in today’s livestream that there are three left-hand root-7-3s (see attachment) in the Keith Jarrett piece Heartland (in F Major) that I have been struggling with for aeons. I have been stretching at and away from the piano and I am getting closer but it is taking soooo long. Any advice on technique/stretching/anything else that might help will be much appreciated. My teacher says that my hand is big enough and that I will be able to crack it if I carry on, but I need to make progress so I can move on..
- hot4euterpe
  
  18 hrs ago
  
  Reported - view
  I myself cannot span a 10th, so those would be out of reach for me. I would consider the following:
  
  1. Try playing them modified as a rolled chords, as harmonic 7th with the 3rd added lightly after, or with the bass note slightly early (though I feel this last one would be distracting here).
  
  2. I would try omitting the 3rds in the LH. They are just doubling the same voicing in the RH and the RH is more engaging so it may sound convincing without these.
  
  3. Depending on how the pedal is being used, I would consider the possibility of letting RH finger 5's ring with pedal and then take the C and D of the LH in the RH.
  
  I've never played this but first glance tells me that I would likely just go with #2 or just add the LH 3rds in gently after. #3 seems like a lot of effort and disconnection from the melody just to add in a doubling of a secondary voice. Those are the possibilities I would explore though!
- Ken_Radford
  
  18 hrs ago
  
  Reported - view
  Thank you for your thoughts Dustin. I have tried options 1 and 2, but not yet option 3. I will give it a go tomorrow and let you know how I get on. I am still hoping to be able to hit the three LH chords as written with more stretching. Regards, Ken.
- Marian_Miller
- Yesterday
- Reported - view
This challenge will inspire me to carry on learning Schubert Moments Musicaux no.4, which I was about to abandon.
- Mary_Manuel
- Yesterday
- Reported - view
I have 3 choices and haven't decided yet. 1. JS Bach "Sheep May Safely Graze" (I had to set this one aside because of elbow pain - I think it was those inner melodic voices!!) 2. Liszt/Schumann "Widmung" (I started this last year but other pieces took precedence and I put it aside) 3. Earl Wild/Gershwin "Embraceable You" (I brought this to my lessons a year or so ago, but it also got moved to the parking lot while other pieces took over. My mother sang this at my wedding - It was her favorite piece. Hmmmmmm....I think I better chose this one!!!)
- Pediatrician
  
  a_weymann
  
  Yesterday
  
  Reported - view
  someone played that Gershwin/Wild piece at masterclass hosted by our local piano society last year. I had never heard it before and was blown away. So beautiful!! Oh, but don’t let that influence you. Play whatever you see fit. 😉
- Der Wanderer
  
  FRANZ_SCHUBERT
  
  Yesterday
  
  Reported - view
  Yes - Earl Wild / Gershwin Etude No. 4, Embraceable You ! I did not know this piece either until late last Fall. Somehow I came upon it as I was trying to listen to different brands of grand pianos - Schimmel, Blüthner, Fazioli, Steinway, Yamaha etc. An awesome piece that once heard is unforgettable yet somehow I did forget about it (temporarily!) until I read your post. ;-)
- The Retired French Teacher
  
  Monikainfrance
  
  Yesterday
  
  Reported - view
  If you love playing for others, Sheep May Safely Graze is am ever-popular choice. It's something I should add to my list of pieces to learn, too.
- Fionna_Zhang
- Yesterday
- Reported - view
I think I’ll use this challenge as an opportunity to complete Chopin’s Grande Polonaise brillante op. 22! I learned the first half about 8 years ago before life got in the way, would love to finally finish it off. (If I have time, I’ll throw in relearning the Andante Spianato as a bonus)
- Mark_Cooper
- Yesterday
- Reported - view
Wow, I’m so impressed by the dedication and enthusiasm of the members of this community, fantastic !! Looking forward to hearing all these contributions.

For myself , my ‘ unfinished ‘ business is actually preparing pieces for my upcoming AmusA examination in August / September

so I plan to present movements 3 and 4 (adagio and allegro) from Handel’s keyboard suite in F . The allegro is a fugue , so I’ve been rewatching Dominic’s talk on this subject , very helpful !
- hot4euterpe
  
  Yesterday
  
  Reported - view
  I didn't know what an AmusA examination was and ended up learning all about it and the AMEB program this morning (I am from Canada). It seems like a combination of our RCM curriculum (Royal Conservatory of Music) and the European ABRSM (Association Board) curriculum. Your AmusA is similar to our ARCT exam here, which is a lot of work to get to. So congrats to you on this upcoming goal! I look forward to hearing your Handel selections for this challenge=)
- Sachi
- 22 hrs ago
- Reported - view
Thank you Dominic and Tonebase for providing us such great opportunity and encouragement.

I have two pieces in mind: either Liszt: Liebestraum no.3 the last section «dolce armonioso» or the last page of Chopin prelude op.28-13.

I have chosen the Chopin prelude because this one is dear to me. I just love this one.
I wanted to learn the prelude during Chopin challenge, but time was running short. I need to work with the last half.
- TT2022
- 12 hrs ago
- Reported - view
Well, I just tried out the coda of the Barcarolle after learning the notes for the first time a few months ago. (I had to put it in cold storage over the past few months due to other commitments taking precedence.) I just tried it out today and cold recorded myself and it’s patchy and I’m hunting around for notes here and there. So I’m debating whether to share a shambolic Week 1 video as a baseline or not 😅

Will see if others do the same! Nothing like solidarity in collective week 1 beginnings…!
- Pediatrician
  
  a_weymann
  
  10 hrs ago
  
  Reported - view
  that depends! What I produced in tonight’s practice session was too atrocious a horror show to record even as a draft. But by the end of the week, this movement could have mellowed from an R-rated slasher flick into a PG-13 rated horror comedy. So, if you’re talking about recording the baseline status on the weekend (late, very late on the weekend 😉),, I could be persuaded to join you.
- TT2022
  
  10 hrs ago
  
  Reported - view
  Ha! yes, current status is semi slasher flick zone! This is actually a good idea — recording on the weekend after we’ve had the chance to spend a few more days with our pieces. And then we can do this every weekend for the next few weeks of this challenge.
- Pediatrician
  
  a_weymann
  
  10 hrs ago
  
  Reported - view
  deal! I’m in.
- Pianist, composer and piano teacher
  
  Sindre_Skarelven
  
  8 hrs ago
  
  Reported - view
  Yes! This is how we used to do these challenges before (as you may remember), actually making a recording each week! I find it much more useful and interesting, and will try to join in :)
- vbashyam
  
  4 hrs ago
  
  Reported - view
  I agree with Sindre. The old challenges where everyone posted weekly videos were great! I will do it for this challenge as well.
- Pediatrician
- a_weymann
- 2 hrs ago
- Reported - view
I’m going to pick a hope-themed motto for each week. This week, it shall be: “Hope is no strategy”. 😆 Although I guess Dominic will give different titles to subsequent weeks…? 🤔
- Pianist, composer and piano teacher
  
  Sindre_Skarelven
  
  1 hr ago
  
  Reported - view
  I’ll be very curious to see what you will come up with for the coming weeks! ☺️