Sonata in F major, K.296, L.198
Baroque Sonata Piano solo ~4 min
In brief

This F major sonata projects a bright, playful character with short, pointed phrases that call for crisp articulation and a strong sense of rhythmic relief rather than long legato lines; its mood is both dance-like and sly. Technically, you will need to work on Analyse harmonique (3.6/5) to identify cadences and quick modulations so you can shape phrases expressively, and on Lecture clé de fa (3.1/5) to keep the left hand clear through leaps and sustained accompanying voices. It sits within Scarlatti's Baroque keyboard output, typical of the short, virtuosic sonatas he wrote for harpsichord and that make up a large part of his catalogue.

MusicCoach difficulty
58/100
Intermediate
Likely range : 46–70/100
Confidence : 35% · to confirm
BeginnerIntermediateAdvancedVirtuoso
Exam grade
About grade 6 to 7

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
60%
Among Domenico Scarlatti
59%
Era Baroque
48%
Genre
Estimated skills
Theory
Harmonic analysis
1
Theory
Knowledge of forms
1
Reading
Bass clef reading
1
Ornaments
Baroque ornaments
1
Style
Baroque style
1
Interpretation
Dynamics
1
Ornaments
Romantic ornaments
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.

See the whole progression