As três Marias, A.411
Modern Piano solo ~15 min
In brief

This piece projects a brisk, rhythmically driven character, with springy attacks and harmonies that create colorful textures rather than long lyrical lines. Technically, watch the Polyrhythm 2 against 3 (3.1/5), which requires clearly separating the right- and left-hand pulses to preserve metric independence, and the Touch Control (2.5/5), which calls for fine modulation of sonority so inner voices do not overpower primary lines. The work belongs to Villa-Lobos's modern period and is part of his piano output where Brazilian rhythms meet his distinctive harmonic colouration.

MusicCoach difficulty
63/100
Intermediate
Likely range : 51–75/100
Confidence : 25% · to confirm
BeginnerIntermediateAdvancedVirtuoso
Exam grade
About grade 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.

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
83%
Among Heitor Villa-Lobos
70%
Era Modern
Genre
Estimated skills
Rhythm
Polyrhythm 2 against 3
1
Style
Modern and contemporary style
1
Tone
Touch control
1
Interpretation
Phrasing
1
Rhythm
Tempo rubato
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