In Four Parts (1)
Piano solo
In brief

The piece is articulated with an incisive, often percussive character, alternating short angular motifs with slightly more singing passages where the line gradually unfolds. The main technical challenges are Touch control (2.5/5), which here requires fine nuance between crisp attacks and sustained resonance to bring out motifs, and Two-voice polyphony (2.5/5), which demands isolating two simultaneous lines through independent fingering and targeted releases. The work belongs to Bartók's solo piano repertoire and fits among his keyboard pieces that emphasize rhythmic drive and clear textures; the precise period is not indicated.

MusicCoach difficulty
32/100
Elementary
Likely range : 3–62/100
Confidence : 55% · fair confidence
BeginnerIntermediateAdvancedVirtuoso
Exam grade
About grade 3 to 4

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
2
18/100 normalised · 2 obs.
MusicCoach consensus
uncertain
Relative difficulty
41%
Among Béla Bartók
23%
Era
Genre
Estimated skills
Tone
Touch control
1
Pedaling
Half-pedalling
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