Suite a minor BWV 818a
Suite Piano solo
In brief

This A minor Suite has a restrained, dance-like character with taut, concise phrases that require crisp articulation and clear alternation between melodic lines and accompaniment. Technically, passages call for Touch control (2.5/5) to balance dynamics and vary attack across voices, and Legato (2.5/5) to connect notes in the melodic lines without blurring rhythmic clarity; Two-voice polyphony (2.5/5) requires distributing fingers to bring out two independent lines simultaneously and sustain each voice's independence. Its placement in Bach's output is uncertain, but it belongs to the suite genre and reflects the polyphonic, dance-based practice of his works. I do not provide a recommended recording here because I cannot confidently identify a definitive reference for this specific version.

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MusicCoach difficulty
54/100
Intermediate
Likely range : 46–63/100
Confidence : 55% · fair confidence
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
Henle Verlag
5
50/100 normalised · 3 obs.
Relative difficulty
59%
Among Johann Sebastian Bach
61%
Era
38%
Genre
Movements and pieces of this work

One rarely plays the whole work. We do not yet have a level specific to each of these movements: they carry the opus's level, which does not say which one is the most approachable.

Estimated skills
Tone
Touch control
1
Technique
Legato
1
Technique
Two-voice polyphony
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