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 rating is computed automatically from heterogeneous sources. It gets things wrong, sometimes badly. If you know this work, your answer is worth more than our computation: it tells us which ratings to review.
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 sonata has a lively, sparkling character with brisk responses and contrasting episodes that require forward momentum and precise articulation; the writing calls for a crisp, percussive approach rather than sustained legato, where rhythmic punctuation shapes the phrase. Technically, you will need solid Form knowledge (3.6/5) to identify sections and handle repeats and transitions without losing drive, and Baroque ornaments (3.1/5), which here demand clear fingering and anticipatory placement of mordents and embellishments so they sound both clean and idiomatic. The piece belongs to the Baroque period and typifies Scarlatti's short keyboard sonatas that probe rhythmic invention and instrumental color. I do not provide a reference recording here, out of caution about naming a specific interpretation with full certainty.