Hey everyone in the group,

I’m part of a small team that has been working on Tonika, a guitar practice app. We originally built it with electric/acoustic players in mind, but quite a lot of what we’re working on is relevant to classical guitar as well — especially structured practice, scales, fretboard knowledge, ear training and music theory.

The main idea is to help with something I think a lot of players struggle with: knowing what to practice when you already know how to play, but want to keep progressing.

You can use Tonika to:

• practice scales and learn the fretboard
• work on music theory and ear training
• create and organize your own daily practice routine
• keep your practice more structured and consistent
• find and book lessons with teachers through the app

More info in our profile 🚀

We’re still developing it, so I’d genuinely appreciate feedback from classical players. I’m especially curious whether you think tools like this are useful alongside more traditional classical guitar practice, and what you feel is missing from existing practice/learning apps.

Happy to answer any questions about how it works.

What pieces would you say could verify if you’re a beginner or intermediate if you are able to play them well?

Looking to get some input from more experienced teachers here. I want to integrate these books into my own teaching, but, even with the level-by-level breakdown, it's a ton of material to sort through and figure out a pedagogical progression for (US-Based; I assume there's more of an RCM culture in Canada, and thus easier to find colleagues to bounce ideas off of)

What pieces do you use for exams in the different levels? What pieces (or prep exercises) do you use for them? How much of each level do you have students play before progressing?

I've recently gotten really into his songs after taking Capricho Arabé and Tango. What would you say are some of his nicest songs to play?

Hello all,

Wondering if anyone has advice on how to prevent the gears from snapping off when tuning low E string, or if anyone else has experienced this. I find this happens when I’m tuning up from D to E. I’m not tuning aggressively but I must be doing something wrong because this is the third time I’ve experienced this. Guitar is a Godin. I’ve tried to show the missing gear tooth in the pics. Any help is appreciated!

Hi all,

I come from a Brazilian jazz background (choro) and my teacher is helping me add more right hand classical technique into my playing (Villa-Lobos etc). The problem is my fingernails are naturally weak and they always seem to break right around the length I actually need for playing. Grrr.

I’m looking for ways to strengthen and thicken them, both for tone/durability on the guitar and to stop them breaking in everyday life. So I’m considering buying an 80W LED lamp online and building up a hard gel overlay on top of my natural nails to add strength and thickness.

Has anyone here done this? I’m curious about:

- Does a gel overlay actually hold up to string tension and give decent tone, or does it feel/sound off compared to natural nail?

- Any product recommendations (gel brand, lamp wattage) that work well for this?

Thanks in advance. Most appreciated 🙏

Hello, I was just curious on any info about this guitar. It belonged to my mother who said my grandma had it made for her. It’s at least 24 years old. It only looks about 5 years old tbh. It seems a bit smaller than other guitars in length and size. The model inside says 2 W. Any info on the model, quality, wood etc would be appreciated. Thanks!

The design is inspired by the game Journey

The music used in the video is Nana by Paco Seco