3 Studies, op. 18, BB81, Sz.72
Modern Étude Piano solo ~11 min
In brief

Bartók’s 3 Studies present a stark, percussive intensity where short, clipped motifs alternate with uneasy breaths, requiring crisp articulation and economical movement rather than wide expressive rubato. You will face concrete technical challenges such as Passages rapides (4.0/5), which require secure finger control and reliable finger substitution to keep fast figures clear and even, and Gammes et arpèges (4.0/5), which demand forearm economy and anticipated fingering to preserve precision and projection across the keyboard. These pieces belong to Bartók’s modern period and are part of his set of piano studies that probe new pianistic solutions and his characteristic rhythmic-harmonic language.

Listen to this work

No verified recording for this work yet. We add more every week.

Sheet music

Public-domain sheet music on IMSLP ↗

Is this the right work?
MusicCoach difficulty
90/100
Master repertoire
Likely range : 79–100/100
Confidence : 55% · fair confidence
BeginnerIntermediateAdvancedVirtuoso
Exam grade
Beyond grade 8

The grade scale stops at 8; this work belongs to concert or diploma repertoire.

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.

Does this rating look right to you?

This rating is computed automatically from heterogeneous sources. It gets things wrong, sometimes badly. If you know this work, your answer is worth more than our computation: it tells us which ratings to review.

Add a note (optional)

Your note is not published on the site: it is read in review.

Difficulty sources
Henle Verlag
9
95/100 normalised
Relative difficulty
100%
Among Béla Bartók
99%
Era Modern
96%
Genre
Estimated skills
Technique
Scales and arpeggios
1
Technique
Fast passages
2
Rhythm
Polyrhythm 2 against 3
1
Style
Modern and contemporary style
1
Technique
Double notes
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