Sonata in G major, K.180, L.272
Baroque Sonata Piano solo ~6 min
In brief

This G major sonata has a lively, springy character with pointed, dialog-like exchanges and quick figures that call for rhythmic clarity rather than slow lyricism. You will need to focus on Ornements baroque (3.1/5), which here require crisp, short executions of mordents and ornaments — precise wrist and finger attacks to keep the line clear — and on Analyse harmonique (3.6/5), which helps you anticipate cadences and shape phrases by following the chordal progressions. The piece comes from the Baroque period and belongs to Scarlatti’s body of short keyboard sonatas, often written as concise, virtuosic studies in articulation and rhythm rather than extended songs.

MusicCoach difficulty
69/100
Advanced
Likely range : 57–81/100
Confidence : 28% · to confirm
BeginnerIntermediateAdvancedVirtuoso
Exam grade
About grade 7 to 8

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.

Does this rating look right to you?

This rating is computed automatically from heterogeneous sources. It gets things wrong, sometimes badly. If you know this work, your answer is worth more than our computation: it tells us which ratings to review.

Add a note (optional)

Your note is not published on the site: it is read in review.

Relative difficulty
87%
Among Domenico Scarlatti
82%
Era Baroque
74%
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
Hand independence
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