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 D minor sonata has a brisk, tense character, alternating percussive gestures and lyrical passages that require clear articulation and a sharp baroque sense of pulse. You will need to rely on your Connaissance des formes (3.6/5) to respect the binary form and time the repeats to shape the dramatic arc, and on your Analyse harmonique (3.6/5) to anticipate chord shifts and prepare hand shifts and register changes without losing the line. The piece belongs to Scarlatti’s large output of keyboard sonatas and reflects the baroque fusion of dance rhythms and keyboard virtuosity as repertoire moved from harpsichord toward piano. I do not give a reference interpretation because I prefer not to cite a specific recording unless I am fully certain of it.