Sonata in C major, K.339, L.251
Baroque Sonata Piano solo ~5 min
In brief

This C major sonata feels bright and sprightly, with brisk figures that alternate with answering responses between the hands, giving an alert, conversational character rather than a lyrical one. You will notably work on « Analysis harmonique (3.6/5) », which here requires anticipating quick modulating progressions to shape phrasing and balance the voices, and « Ornements baroque (3.1/5) », which demands precise placement of mordents and small cadential ornaments — short, well-articulated gestures with the thumb and weaker fingers so the ornament supports the line without cluttering the accompaniment. The piece is part of Scarlatti's body of Baroque keyboard sonatas, typical of his concise, formally inventive works for solo keyboard within a large catalogue.

MusicCoach difficulty
45/100
Intermediate
Likely range : 33–57/100
Confidence : 35% · to confirm
BeginnerIntermediateAdvancedVirtuoso
Exam grade
About grade 5

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.

Where this work sits
050100

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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Relative difficulty
15%
Among Domenico Scarlatti
22%
Era Baroque
13%
Genre
Estimated skills
Theory
Harmonic analysis
1
Theory
Knowledge of forms
1
Reading
Bass clef reading
1
Style
Baroque style
1
Ornaments
Baroque ornaments
2
Interpretation
Dynamics
1
Interpretation
Phrasing
1
What to play next?

Each suggestion combines difficulty gap, risk, confidence and skill overlap. The first two cards in each column are the most useful pedagogically.

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