MusicCoach difficulty
75/100
Advanced
Level of the complete work
We have no level specific to this movement. The figure above is that of the complete work: within a cycle, movements often differ widely in demand.
Estimated skills
Theory
Knowledge of forms
1
Ornaments
Baroque ornaments
1
Style
Baroque style
1
Rhythm
Polyrhythm 2 against 3
1
Style
Modern and contemporary style
1
Tone
Touch control
1
Technique
Hand independence
1
Technique
Three-or-more-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.
Gentle step
The safest next step.
Gentle
El Sombrero de tres picos Suite for piano
Manuel de Falla
close skills
low risk
to confirm
A short step up, staying in Advanced (around grade 7 ABRSM/RCM). New compared with the previous piece: Ornements romantiques and Style baroque — ornaments must be secure before the piece goes up to tempo, otherwise they break the line instead of decorating it.
Gentle
Keyboard Suite in E minor, H.66, Wq.62, no. 12
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach
close skills
low risk
to confirm
A short step up, staying in Advanced (around grade 7 ABRSM/RCM). New compared with the previous piece: Style classique and Ornements baroque — the notes are not enough: articulation and ornaments follow performance conventions best checked in an urtext edition.
Balanced step
A genuine step up, without a jolt.
Balanced
English Suite no. 3 in G minor, BWV.808
Johann Sebastian Bach
close skills
moderate risk
to confirm
A real step up, staying in Advanced (around grade 8 ABRSM/RCM). New compared with the previous piece: Passages rapides and Style baroque — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.
Balanced
Suite, op. 5
Maurice Duruflé
close skills
moderate risk
fair confidence
A real step up, staying in Advanced (around grade 8 ABRSM/RCM). The skill that will carry the work: Style baroque and Ornements baroque — the notes are not enough: articulation and ornaments follow performance conventions best checked in an urtext edition.
Ambitious challenge
A useful leap with guided practice.
Challenge
Suite for Piano, op. 25
Arnold Schoenberg
close skills
high risk
to confirm
An ambitious leap into Great repertoire (diploma level, beyond grade 8) — only worth starting if the practice time is really there. The skill that will carry the work: Style baroque and Ornements baroque — the notes are not enough: articulation and ornaments follow performance conventions best checked in an urtext edition.
Challenge
Ordre 14 in D minor or D
François Couperin
partial transfer
moderate risk
to confirm
An ambitious leap into Great repertoire (diploma level, beyond grade 8) — only worth starting if the practice time is really there. New compared with the previous piece: Demi-pédale and Style baroque — the pedal is set by ear, note by note: misjudged, it blurs the harmony instead of joining it.
Same level
Same level
Passacaglia
Aaron Copland
partial transfer
low risk
to confirm
Equivalent demands, still Advanced (around grade 7 ABRSM/RCM): what changes is the ground. What changes is the skill in play: Analyse harmonique and Style moderne et contemporain — understand the form and the harmony before memorising, or memory collapses the moment you play for someone.
Same level
Fugue no. 14 en Fa Dièse Mineur, BWV.883
Johann Sebastian Bach
partial transfer
low risk
to confirm
Equivalent demands, still Advanced (around grade 7 ABRSM/RCM): what changes is the ground. What changes is the skill in play: Analyse harmonique and Voix chantante — understand the form and the harmony before memorising, or memory collapses the moment you play for someone.
Same level
6 Preludes and Fugues, op. 61
Dmitry Kabalevsky
partial transfer
low risk
to confirm
Equivalent demands, still Advanced (around grade 7 ABRSM/RCM): what changes is the ground. What changes is the skill in play: Passages rapides and Style moderne et contemporain — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.
This Toccata has a taut, motoric character: repeated figures and sharp accents create rhythmic tension and a nearly mechanical energy rather than flowing lyricism. On the technical side, pay close attention to Ornaments baroque (4.1/5) — here you must execute very precise finger releases so trills and short embellishments stay clear without weighing down the line — and to Polyrhythm 2 against 3 (3.1/5), which requires hand independence by internalizing the subdivisions (think and release groups of two and three with a steady finger pattern and pulse). The piece is from the composer's modern period and is the third movement of a Suite for piano (op. 5), reflecting his blending of neo‑baroque gestures with twentieth‑century language.