No.131 — Fourths
Piano solo ~2 min
In brief

This piano miniature unfolds with a sharp, angular mood, built around fourths that produce a cold, percussive color rather than a singing line. Technically, expect particularly demanding Passages rapides (4.1/5) requiring precise fingerwork and economical arm use to stay agile while keeping clarity, and a Polyrhythmie 2 contre 3 (4.1/5) that requires rhythmic control and clear finger independence between the hands to maintain the separate rhythmic cells. In Bartók's catalogue, this piece appears among his works for solo piano; the period of composition is listed as unknown in the provided information. I do not provide a reference performance here because I am not sufficiently certain of a widely recognized recording for this specific work.

MusicCoach difficulty
55/100
Intermediate
Likely range : 49–61/100
Confidence : 50% · to confirm
BeginnerIntermediateAdvancedVirtuoso
Exam grade
About grade 6

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 6
55/100 normalised
Relative difficulty
83%
Among Béla Bartók
63%
Era
Genre
Estimated skills
Technique
Fast passages
1
Rhythm
Polyrhythm 2 against 3
1
Technique
Double notes
1
Interpretation
Dynamics
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