Estimated from our difficulty score, not taken from an exam syllabus. Checked against 333 works on the ABRSM syllabus: the exact grade is right 7 times out of 10, and within one grade 99 times out of 100.
Difficulty estimate by MusicCoach on a scale of 1 to 100.
Most works cluster between 45 and 65: a small score gap often marks a real step. The highlighted bar shows this work among those for the same instrument.
The MusicCoach difficulty measures a work's overall demands (technique, reading, stamina) on a shared 0-100 scale, consolidated from editorial and pedagogical reference points (Henle, exam syllabuses, curation) and our own analyses. It measures neither musical value nor the practice time YOU will need: two musicians of the same level can experience the same work very differently depending on their strengths (hands used to octaves, quick sight-reading…). The confidence reflects how many reference points sit behind the score and how well they agree — a lightly documented score is flagged “to validate”. For a truly personal bearing, the diagnostic and your space compare each work to YOUR estimated level, which the score alone cannot do.
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Each suggestion combines difficulty gap, risk, confidence and skill overlap. The first two cards in each column are the most useful pedagogically.
The safest next step.
A genuine step up, without a jolt.
A useful leap with guided practice.
This E-flat major sonata has an open, playful character, with contrasting episodes that call for momentum and rhythmic clarity rather than Romantic excess. You will face specific demands in Analysis harmonique (3.6/5): you must hear and follow the modulations to adjust harmonic accents and voice balance, and in Phrasé (2.5/5): the gesture requires relaxed elbows and precise fingering to shape short phrases and let responses breathe without breaking the flow. As a Classical-period keyboard sonata, it exemplifies Haydn's approach to the piano sonata, focused on formal clarity and conversational texture between the hands, and occupies a typical place in his contribution to the sonata repertoire.