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.
A genuine step up, without a jolt.
A useful leap with guided practice.
This D minor sonata has a brisk, slightly abrupt character, alternating sharp responses with more singing passages that require precise articulation to keep baroque momentum without weighing the line down. Technically, you will notably face Analysis harmonique (3.6/5) — you must quickly identify modulations and prepare changes of left-hand support so the voices exchange cleanly — and Baroque ornaments (3.1/5), which call for clear, proportioned execution of mordents and trills within a fast flow. A piece of the Baroque keyboard repertoire, it belongs to Scarlatti’s many keyboard sonatas and showcases his taste for contrasts and hand-to-hand dialogue.