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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The safest next step.
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This D minor sonata reads as brisk and taut, alternating pointed figures and dramatic responses that call for crisp articulation and a sense of incisive rhythm rather than slow lyricism. Technically, you will face in particular the skill “Connaissance des formes (3.6/5)”, which here means identifying repeats and short episodes to shape your phrasing, and “Ornements baroque (3.1/5)”, which requires very brief, precise execution of embellishments (appoggiaturas, small mordents) using short controlled finger strokes. The piece belongs to the Baroque repertoire and sits among Scarlatti's many brief keyboard sonatas that emphasize economy of means and rhythmic invention rather than extended developmental structures. I do not provide a reference recording because I am not 100% sure of a single widely recognized interpretation for this exact sonata.