Sonata in F minor, K.466, L.118
Baroque Sonata Piano solo ~4 min
In brief

This F minor sonata feels abrupt and dramatic, trading flashes of virtuosity with more restrained replies that demand crisp articulation and careful breathing between phrases; there is a constant rhythmic tension rather than an extended singing line. Technical challenges include in particular Harmonic analysis (3.6/5) — you must map modal shifts and harmonic supports to balance the voices and anticipate accents — and Baroque ornaments (3.1/5) — executing trills and small embellishments with finger- and wrist-controlled precision so their rhythmic placement serves the musical line. From the Baroque period, the piece belongs to Scarlatti's keyboard sonatas and exemplifies his use of dramatic effects and idiomatic keyboard virtuosity within that corpus.

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Is this the right work?
MusicCoach difficulty
54/100
Intermediate
Likely range : 49–58/100
Confidence : 62% · fair confidence
BeginnerIntermediateAdvancedVirtuoso
Exam grade
On the syllabus: Grade 6 ABRSM

Official level, taken from the exam syllabus.

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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Difficulty sources
Henle Verlag
5
50/100 normalised
Combined exam syllabi
Grade 6
55/100 normalised
Relative difficulty
42%
Among Domenico Scarlatti
46%
Era Baroque
34%
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
Technique
Legato
1
Technique
Octaves
1
Interpretation
Phrasing
1
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