No.55 — Triplets in 9/8 Time
Piano solo ~2 min
In brief

This piece projects a crisp rhythmic energy: the triplet thirds in 9/8 produce a percussive, pointed flow rather than a lyrical one. You will specifically face Scales and arpeggios (4.4/5), which require fast, even fingering and a fluid distribution of the hand to keep rapid figures clear, and Staccato (4.4/5), which calls for short, clean attacks using controlled wrist motion to maintain rhythmic precision without stiffness. The exact period of the work is not provided here, so it should be cautiously regarded as a concise Bartók piano page reflecting his interest in asymmetrical rhythms. I do not give a recording recommendation here out of caution.

MusicCoach difficulty
31/100
Elementary
Likely range : 10–52/100
Confidence : 53% · to confirm
BeginnerIntermediateAdvancedVirtuoso
Exam grade
About grade 3

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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Difficulty sources
Combined exam syllabi
Grade 2
20/100 normalised
MusicCoach consensus
uncertain
Relative difficulty
38%
Among Béla Bartók
21%
Era
Genre
Estimated skills
Technique
Scales and arpeggios
1
Technique
Legato
1
Technique
Staccato
1
Technique
Fast passages
1
Rhythm
General rhythm
1
Technique
General technique
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