Rondeau écossais in B major, H.23
Romantic Rondo Piano solo ~4 min
In brief

This Rondeau écossais is playful and song-like, combining light ornamentation with delicate figurations that suggest a popular dance filtered through a romantic sensibility. You will specifically need to work on Tempo rubato (3.1/5) — here that means small, controlled timing adjustments to let phrases breathe while keeping forward momentum, managed mainly through the right-hand phrasing — and Sustain pedal (3.1/5), which requires precise, measured use to connect harmonies without blurring rapid figuration, lifting and reapplying the pedal at harmonic changes. The piece belongs to the Romantic period and sits among the piano salon miniatures that contributed to Field's reputation for lyrical piano writing.

MusicCoach difficulty
50/100
Intermediate
Likely range : 38–62/100
Confidence : 35% · to confirm
BeginnerIntermediateAdvancedVirtuoso
Exam grade
About grade 5 to 6

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
18%
Among John Field
35%
Era Romantic
18%
Genre
Estimated skills
Pedaling
Sustain pedal
1
Style
Romantic style
1
Rhythm
Tempo rubato
1
Technique
Legato
1
Interpretation
Dynamics
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