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 Scherzo in A-flat major feels like a dramatic, virtuosic episode with sharp accents and swift contrasts in energy, moving quickly between light filigree and massive outbursts; the overall impression is of an orchestral, percussive approach to the piano. You will need to focus particularly on Staccato (4.1/5), which here requires precise fingers and an immediate wrist release to achieve very detached attacks without weighing down the line, and on Octaves (4.1/5), which demand a secure hand and forearm control to maintain power and accuracy across wide intervals. Written in the Romantic vein, the piece reflects Borodin's tendency to transfer orchestral color into piano writing and belongs to his more characterful, virtuosic piano output.