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.
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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Each suggestion combines difficulty gap, risk, confidence and skill overlap. The first two cards in each column are the most useful pedagogically.
The safest next step.
A genuine step up, without a jolt.
A useful leap with guided practice.
This D major sonata feels bright and playful, with clear-cut phrases that favor forward motion in the classical manner rather than heavy drama. As technical challenges, Phrasing (2.5/5) here requires shaping short phrases with precise internal breaths and subtle dynamic shading to reveal the melodic logic, and Legato (2.5/5) demands controlled connections between notes to keep smoothness without blurring articulation; Hand independence (Indépendance des mains, 2.5/5) will also require one hand to maintain a steady accompaniment while the other projects the tune, so fine balance and separate finger attacks are needed. Situated among Haydn’s piano sonatas, it exemplifies the clear formal and expressive language of the Classical period rather than later coloristic experimentation.