Funeral March in C minor, op. 72 no. 2
Romantic March Piano solo ~4 min
In brief

This Funeral March in C minor projects a heavy, relentless solemnity, alternating block-like hammered chords and almost chant-like mournful passages that demand sustained tension in the pulse. You will face Tempo rubato (3.1/5) — here that means applying discreet delays and anticipations in the melody while keeping the underlying beat steady — and Sustain pedal (Pédale de sustain) (3.1/5) — you must make precise releases and changes to keep harmonic clarity while achieving the desired mournful resonance. The piece belongs to Chopin's Romantic period and stands as a standalone march-like funeral character within his output, often used in ceremonial or characterful contexts.

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MusicCoach difficulty
61/100
Intermediate
Likely range : 49–73/100
Confidence : 38% · to confirm
BeginnerIntermediateAdvancedVirtuoso
Exam grade
About grade 6 to 7

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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Relative difficulty
46%
Among Frédéric Chopin
58%
Era Romantic
80%
Genre
Estimated skills
Style
Romantic style
1
Rhythm
Tempo rubato
1
Pedaling
Sustain pedal
2
Style
Character and style
1
Interpretation
Dynamics
1
What to play next?

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