Repertoire › Violin solo › What to play next
What to play after Violin solo ?
Vagn Holmboe · difficulty 55/100

Choose your level of commitment: consolidate, move up a tier or prepare a challenge. The top-ranked cards combine difficulty, risk, shared skills and confidence.

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Gentle step

The safest next step.

Gentle
Reminiscences, for solo violin
Vagn Holmboe
60/100 +5 pts 6-12 weeks
close skills low risk to confirm
A short step up, staying in Intermediate (around grade 6 ABRSM/RCM). The skill that will carry the work: Intonation and Style moderne et contemporain — practise it slowly, separating left hand from bow: bow alone on open strings, then the fingering silently.
Gentle
Abodah: a Yom Kippur melody, for violin and piano
Ernest Bloch
60/100 +5 pts 6-12 weeks
partial transfer low risk to confirm
A short step up, staying in Intermediate (around grade 6 ABRSM/RCM). New compared with the previous piece: Voix chantante and Vibrato — the notes will be secure long before the musical line: work in whole phrases, singing the main voice.
Gentle
Suite for Violin and Piano, op. 6: I. March
Benjamin Britten
59/100 +4 pts 5-10 weeks
partial transfer low risk to confirm
A short step up, staying in Intermediate (around grade 6 ABRSM/RCM). New compared with the previous piece: Style baroque and Ornements baroque — the notes are not enough: articulation and ornaments follow performance conventions best checked in an urtext edition.
Gentle
Sonata for Violin and Piano no. 2, op. 16: I. Allegro moderato
Vagn Holmboe
61/100 +6 pts 6-12 weeks
partial transfer low risk to confirm
A short step up, staying in Intermediate (around grade 7 ABRSM/RCM). New compared with the previous piece: Vibrato and Connaissance des formes — what matters is a steady sustained tone: bow speed, contact point and pressure even, before any thought of speed.
Gentle
Le Printemps, for violin and piano, op. 18
Darius Milhaud
59/100 +4 pts 5-10 weeks
partial transfer low risk to confirm
A short step up, staying in Intermediate (around grade 6 ABRSM/RCM). New compared with the previous piece: Coups d'archet composés and Style moderne et contemporain — practise it slowly, separating left hand from bow: bow alone on open strings, then the fingering silently.
Balanced step

A genuine step up, without a jolt.

Balanced
Pampeana no. 1, for violin and piano, op. 16
Alberto Ginastera
66/100 +11 pts 12-24 weeks
partial transfer moderate risk to confirm
A real step up: this piece moves you into Advanced (around grade 7 ABRSM/RCM). New compared with the previous piece: Vibrato and Rythme d'archet complexe — what matters is a steady sustained tone: bow speed, contact point and pressure even, before any thought of speed.
Balanced
Sonata for Violin and Piano no. 3, op. 89: IV. Allegro con forza
Vagn Holmboe
66/100 +11 pts 12-24 weeks
partial transfer moderate risk to confirm
A real step up: this piece moves you into Advanced (around grade 7 ABRSM/RCM). New compared with the previous piece: Vibrato and Legato d'archet — what matters is a steady sustained tone: bow speed, contact point and pressure even, before any thought of speed.
Balanced
Sonata for Violin and Piano no. 3, op. 89: II. Allegro molto
Vagn Holmboe
65/100 +10 pts 12-24 weeks
partial transfer moderate risk to confirm
A real step up, staying in Intermediate (around grade 7 ABRSM/RCM). New compared with the previous piece: Vibrato and Legato d'archet — what matters is a steady sustained tone: bow speed, contact point and pressure even, before any thought of speed.
Balanced
Concert Piece for Violin and Piano
Arnold Bax
69/100 +14 pts 12-24 weeks
partial transfer moderate risk to confirm
A real step up: this piece moves you into Advanced (around grade 7 ABRSM/RCM). New compared with the previous piece: Vibrato and Passages rapides — what matters is a steady sustained tone: bow speed, contact point and pressure even, before any thought of speed.
Ambitious challenge

A useful leap with guided practice.

Challenge
Violin Sonata no. 1 in F minor, op. 80
Sergei Prokofiev
71/100 +16 pts 28-56 weeks
new reflexes high risk to confirm
An ambitious leap into Advanced (around grade 7 ABRSM/RCM) — only worth starting if the practice time is really there. New compared with the previous piece: Vibrato and Legato d'archet — what matters is a steady sustained tone: bow speed, contact point and pressure even, before any thought of speed.
Challenge
Violin Sonata in E minor, BB28
Béla Bartók
76/100 +21 pts 28-56 weeks
partial transfer high risk to confirm
An ambitious leap into Advanced (around grade 8 ABRSM/RCM) — only worth starting if the practice time is really there. New compared with the previous piece: Legato d'archet and Connaissance des formes — practise it slowly, separating left hand from bow: bow alone on open strings, then the fingering silently.
Challenge
Violin Sonata no. 1 in E
Arnold Bax
70/100 +15 pts 28-56 weeks
partial transfer moderate risk to confirm
An ambitious leap into Advanced (around grade 7 ABRSM/RCM) — only worth starting if the practice time is really there. New compared with the previous piece: Legato d'archet and Connaissance des formes — practise it slowly, separating left hand from bow: bow alone on open strings, then the fingering silently.
Same level

To widen the repertoire without raising the level.

Same level
2 Pieces for Violin and Piano
William Walton
55/100 same level 4-6 weeks
partial transfer low risk to confirm
Equivalent demands, still Intermediate (around grade 6 ABRSM/RCM): what changes is the ground. What changes is the skill in play: Passages rapides and Style moderne et contemporain — practise it slowly, separating left hand from bow: bow alone on open strings, then the fingering silently.
Same level
Sonata for Violin and Piano no. 3, op. 89: III. Adagio ma non troppo
Vagn Holmboe
56/100 +1 pts 4-6 weeks
partial transfer low risk to confirm
Equivalent demands, still Intermediate (around grade 6 ABRSM/RCM): what changes is the ground. What changes is the skill in play: Connaissance des formes and Vibrato — understand the form and the harmony before memorising, or memory collapses the moment you play for someone.
Same level
Sonata for Violin and Piano no. 2, op. 16: II. Andante tranquillo
Vagn Holmboe
54/100 -2 pts 4-6 weeks
partial transfer low risk to confirm
Equivalent demands, still Intermediate (around grade 6 ABRSM/RCM): what changes is the ground. What changes is the skill in play: Vibrato and Connaissance des formes — what matters is a steady sustained tone: bow speed, contact point and pressure even, before any thought of speed.
Progressions computed from difficulty, skill overlap and style between works. A What do we play next? recommendation should remain a pedagogical starting point, not an automatic prescription.