No.148 — Six Dances in Bulgarian Rhythm (1)
Piano solo ~4 min
In brief

This dance has a percussive, springy drive, with irregular accents that create the feel of a lively rhythmic dialogue between the hands. You will face particular challenges with “Mesures asymétriques (5.0/5)”, which here require keeping irregular cycles steady by consciously distributing accents across odd-grouped beats, and with “Rythmes pointés (4.6/5)”, which demand precise control of the long-short offsets so the rhythmic momentum stays clear without blurring the pulse. The piece belongs to Bartók's strand of piano writing deeply influenced by Balkan folk rhythms and his exploration of irregular meters. I do not give a specific recommended recording because I am not 100% certain of a single definitive interpretation for this exact number.

MusicCoach difficulty
72/100
Advanced
Likely range : 64–80/100
Confidence : 53% · 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.

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Difficulty sources
Combined exam syllabi
Grade 8
76/100 normalised
Relative difficulty
95%
Among Béla Bartók
88%
Era
Genre
Estimated skills
Rhythm
Asymmetric metres
2
Rhythm
Dotted rhythms
2
Rhythm
Syncopation
2
Technique
Hand crossings
1
Technique
Double notes
1
Rhythm
General rhythm
2
Style
Modern and contemporary style
2
Technique
Fast passages
2
Style
Character and style
1
Rhythm
Polyrhythm 2 against 3
1
Technique
Stamina
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.

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