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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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.
The mood of this D major sonata is bright and sprightly, with bouncing figures and quick exchanges that call for rhythmic precision and clear articulation rather than sustained singing lines. Technically, you will need to focus on Harmonic analysis (3.6/5) to spot the modulatory sequences and prepare resolutions — concrete gesture: anticipate with the hand and a decisive attack on chord progressions to secure clean cadences — and Baroque ornamentation (3.1/5), which requires flexible fingering and precise timing to execute trills and small embellishments without breaking the flow. The piece belongs to the Baroque period and is part of Scarlatti's body of keyboard sonatas reflecting the era's instrument and stylistic norms.