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 Sonata in B minor has a sharp, unsettled character, alternating fast motifs and more suspended bars that require rhythmic clarity and crisp articulation to bring out the imitative figures. Technically, you will need to work on Analyse harmonique (3.6/5) by identifying cadences and modulatory progressions to anticipate line shifts, and on Style baroque (3.1/5) by refining ornaments and uneven articulation: this calls for short attacks, precise détaché, and fingering that prepares small embellishments. In context, it belongs to Scarlatti's Baroque keyboard output where sonatas explore virtuosic effects and instrumental colors, often written for harpsichord though commonly played on piano today. I do not provide a performance reference here because I am not fully certain of a single widely recognized recording for this specific sonata.