Daily Scheduled Suffering

10/10/2026

Francisco Tárrega – Estudio en Mi Menor (Etude in E Minor)
Composed by Francisco Tárrega, the father of modern classical guitar, Estudio en Mi Menor weaves a poignant, singing melody over fluid right-hand arpeggios. A timeless Romantic miniature, this study balances right-hand technique with deep Spanish lyricism.
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Composed by Francisco Tárrega, the father of modern classical guita...

10/10/2026

🎸 Pulling an old favorite out of the archives! Mi Favorita — revisiting an old recording, enjoying the music, and appreciating how far the journey has come. Some pieces are worth bringing back. 🎶

08/26/2026

Building consistency.

Another practice session on Sor Lesson 3.

This is not about learning more notes just for the sake of moving forward. It is about returning to the same material, refining the movements, cleaning up the timing, and making the work more reliable.

Sometimes progress means adding something new.

Sometimes progress means making yesterday’s work better.

Repeat. Refine. Return.

That is Daily Scheduled Suffering.

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08/22/2026

Back to the fundamentals.

This practice session is focused on Giuliani Op. 50 No. 5.

Right now I’m still in the early stages—working through the notes, refining the fi*****ng, paying attention to timing and control, and trying to make the movements more efficient.

This is not a performance.

It is foundation work.

One of the things classical guitar keeps teaching me is that the basics are not something you leave behind once you get better. You keep returning to them because they support everything else you want to play.

Show up. Work on the fundamentals. Refine the small things. Come back tomorrow.

That is Daily Scheduled Suffering.

Watch the practice video on YouTube:
[PASTE DIRECT GIULIANI YOUTUBE LINK]

YouTube:
https://youtube.com/

Download the free DSS Classical Guitar Practice Planner:
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08/20/2026

Building the piece.

This practice session is focused on Sor Lesson 3.

Right now the goal is not to perform it. I’m working through the music slowly, refining fi*****ng, shifts, timing, and the small technical details that need to become dependable before the piece can really develop.

This is the work that happens long before a finished performance.

Classical guitar keeps teaching me the same thing endurance training did: most progress is not dramatic.

You show up, identify a problem, work on it, make a small improvement, and come back the next day.

Over time, those small sessions become something much larger.

That is Daily Scheduled Suffering.

Watch the practice video on YouTube:
[PASTE DIRECT SOR YOUTUBE LINK]

YouTube:
https://youtube.com/

Download the free DSS Classical Guitar Practice Planner:
https://www.dailyscheduledsuffering.com/practice-planner

08/16/2026

Andantino by Ferdinando Carulli.

Simple music has a way of exposing everything.

There is nowhere to hide poor tone, uneven rhythm, sloppy transitions, or a lack of control. That is part of what makes pieces like this so valuable.

This is not about playing something difficult for the sake of difficulty. It is about making something simple sound clean, controlled, and musical.

That is where the discipline comes in.

Show up. Pay attention to the details. Refine the small things.

That is Daily Scheduled Suffering.

More classical-guitar practice and performances on YouTube:
[https://youtube.com/]
Download the free DSS Classical Guitar Practice Planner:
[https://www.dailyscheduledsuffering.com/practice-planner]



https://youtu.be/kuKub9QTtH8

08/15/2026

Starting the work.

This is the beginning of my practice on J.K. Mertz’s Romanze, and I’m only working through the first few measures.

Finding the notes. Working out the fi*****ng. Looking at the movements. Repeating small sections.

This isn’t a performance, and it isn’t supposed to sound finished.

This is the work that happens long before a piece is ready to perform.

One of the things classical guitar continues to teach me is patience. You don’t have to conquer the entire piece today. You just have to show up and make a few measures better than they were yesterday.

That is Daily Scheduled Suffering.

Watch the practice video on YouTube:
[PASTE DIRECT MERTZ YOUTUBE LINK]

YouTube:
https://youtube.com/

Download the free DSS Classical Guitar Practice Planner:
https://www.dailyscheduledsuffering.com/practice-planner

08/12/2026

The Long Game.

Capricho Árabe is one of those pieces I knew from the beginning would take a very long time.

This is a practice update, not a finished performance. I am still working through the technical barriers, developing the phrasing, and trying to make the movement more natural and controlled.

That is where Daily Scheduled Suffering comes in.

The “suffering” is not the music. It is the discipline of showing up when progress is slow, when a passage is frustrating, or when the result may still be hundreds of hours away.

Many people have told me to wait on pieces like this. My thinking is simple: if I never start, I never get there.

Watch the full video on YouTube:
[PASTE DIRECT YOUTUBE VIDEO LINK]

YouTube channel:
https://youtube.com/

Download the free DSS Classical Guitar Practice Planner:
https://www.dailyscheduledsuffering.com/practice-planner

08/08/2026

What the reps built.

This video documents my complete CGC Grade 2 exam program:

• Bartolomé Calatayud — Vals
• Mauro Giuliani — Allegro, Op. 50 No. 13
• Ferdinando Carulli — Andantino, Op. 241 No. 5

The performance is the visible result.

What normally remains unseen are the slow repetitions, corrections, missed notes, difficult practice sessions, and gradual improvements that brought the three pieces together.

Running taught me that suffering can be scheduled. Classical guitar is teaching me that discipline has to be refined, not merely endured.

Daily Scheduled Suffering is about showing up on schedule, practicing deliberately, evaluating the results honestly, and returning to the work.

This is not about presenting a flawless performance or pretending the work is finished. It is an honest record of what consistent practice has built and what still needs to improve.

Watch the complete video:

[PASTE DIRECT YOUTUBE VIDEO LINK]

YouTube channel:
https://youtube.com/

Download the free DSS Classical Guitar Practice Planner:
https://www.dailyscheduledsuffering.com/practice-planner

Visit DSS:
https://www.dailyscheduledsuffering.com