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 study projects a sharp rhythmic energy and almost athletic storytelling, with irregular accents and bursts that evoke the image of a left‑handed pitcher in motion rather than a purely lyrical piano piece; dynamics are abrupt and the overall effect is often percussive. Technically you will face notably Passages rapides (4.0/5), which require wrist rotation and arm movement to maintain clarity and precision in fast runs, and sections of Polyrhythmie 2 contre 3 (3.1/5), which demand hand independence and strict internal subdivision to keep the crossed pulses aligned. The piece belongs to Ives's modern output, among his experimental piano studies exploring rhythmic layering and American popular references rather than a conventional lyrical catalogue. I do not provide a reference recording here because I am not certain of a single widely recognized interpretation for this specific study.