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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Each suggestion combines difficulty gap, risk, confidence and skill overlap. The first two cards in each column are the most useful pedagogically.
The safest next step.
A genuine step up, without a jolt.
A useful leap with guided practice.
This Sonata in A-flat major feels intimate yet impassioned, with lyrical episodes alternating with dramatic outbursts and harmonies that push and pull the musical line. You will notably need « Connaissance des formes (3.6/5) »: you must identify and shape the large sections and internal returns so that cadences and transitions read clearly, which requires precise adjustments of phrasing and dynamics at structural points; and « Tempo rubato (3.1/5) »: the concrete gesture is to apply small accelerations and holds in the right hand while keeping a steady bass, demanding wrist control and a steady sense of musical breathing to avoid drifting. The work belongs to the Romantic period and is one of Wagner’s rare pieces for solo piano, conceived more as an expressive salon work than a large orchestral statement. I do not give a reference interpretation out of caution regarding the availability of well-established recordings for this specific piece.