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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This A major sonata by Scarlatti feels brisk and playful, with crisp chordal accents and rapid figurations that create a contrast between rustic rhythmic drive and delicate decorative detail. You will need to focus on Analysis harmonique (3.6/5) to quickly spot the small modulations and harmonic turns that shape phrase propulsion — this requires sensing cadence preparations and adjusting voicing and balance between hands — and on Ornements baroque (3.1/5), where fixed fingerings and precise timing for mordents and appoggiaturas are essential so the ornaments enhance rather than disrupt the main line. As a Baroque piece, it belongs to Scarlatti's large set of keyboard sonatas written to probe virtuosic effects and rhythmic color on domestic keyboards. I do not give a reference interpretation here because I am not fully certain of a single widely recognized recording for this specific sonata.