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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A useful leap with guided practice.
This B minor sonata has a dramatic, percussive character, built on repeating figures and sharp contrasts between the hands that create strong rhythmic tension. You will need to focus on Ornaments (baroque) (3.1/5) — here that means executing brief, clearly articulated mordents and embellishments within the melodic line — and Bass-clef reading (Lecture clé de fa) (3.1/5), because the left hand carries independent bass voices and wide leaps requiring confident bass-clef reading and precise hand coordination. As a Baroque keyboard sonata, it belongs to Scarlatti’s large cycle of keyboard works originally intended for the harpsichord, emphasizing hand-contrasts and virtuosic figurations. I do not give a recommended recording here out of caution about the accuracy of specific performances.