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.
These Four Piano Pieces convey an intimate, nostalgic mood, shifting between singing motifs and darker, more agitated episodes that call for poetic color rather than mere virtuosic display. You will specifically face the Tempo rubato (3.1/5): you must shape small give-and-take in the tempo to let melodic lines breathe without destabilizing the accompanying hand, and the Pédale de sustain (3.1/5), which requires very precise pedal changes to connect harmonics while keeping inner voices clear. The pieces belong to Rachmaninoff’s romantic output, serving as compact piano miniatures that complement his larger-scale works by offering concentrated moments of piano expression. I do not provide a reference recording here because I prefer not to risk naming an incorrect interpretation.