Repertoire › Study no. 18 › What to play next
What to play after Study no. 18 ?
Charles Ives · difficulty 72/100

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
Study no. 2: Andante moderato-Allegro molto, etude for piano
Charles Ives
77/100 +5 pts 7-14 weeks
close skills low risk fair confidence
A short step up, staying in Advanced (around grade 8 ABRSM/RCM). New compared with the previous piece: Indépendance des mains and Doigté complexe — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.
Gentle
Étude in G-flat major Op.10 No.5 (Black Keys)
Frédéric Chopin
77/100 +5 pts 7-14 weeks
partial transfer low risk to confirm
A short step up, staying in Advanced (around grade 8 ABRSM/RCM). New compared with the previous piece: Staccato — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.
Gentle
Etude in C-sharp minor Op.25 No.7
Frédéric Chopin
76/100 +4 pts 7-14 weeks
close skills low risk to confirm
A short step up, staying in Advanced (around grade 8 ABRSM/RCM). New compared with the previous piece: Doubles notes and Demi-pédale — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.
Gentle
Study no. 9: The Anti-Abolitionist Riots in the 1830s and 1840s, for piano
Charles Ives
75/100 +3 pts 7-14 weeks
close skills low risk fair confidence
A short step up, staying in Advanced (around grade 8 ABRSM/RCM). The skill that will carry the work: Gammes et arpèges and Style moderne et contemporain — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.
Balanced step

A genuine step up, without a jolt.

Balanced
Etude E flat major op. 42 no. 8
Alexander Scriabin
83/100 +11 pts 16-32 weeks
partial transfer moderate risk to confirm
A real step up: this piece moves you into Great repertoire (diploma level, beyond grade 8). The skill that will carry the work: Passages rapides — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.
Balanced
Study no. 23: Allegro, etude
Charles Ives
80/100 +8 pts 16-32 weeks
close skills moderate risk fair confidence
A real step up: this piece moves you into Great repertoire (diploma level, beyond grade 8). The skill that will carry the work: Gammes et arpèges and Style moderne et contemporain — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.
Balanced
Étude
Igor Stravinsky
80/100 +8 pts 16-32 weeks
close skills moderate risk to confirm
A real step up: this piece moves you into Great repertoire (diploma level, beyond grade 8). New compared with the previous piece: Trilles and Style moderne et contemporain — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.
Balanced
Etude 14a, for player piano, "Coloana färä stârsit"
György Ligeti
80/100 +8 pts 16-32 weeks
partial transfer moderate risk to confirm
A real step up: this piece moves you into Great repertoire (diploma level, beyond grade 8). New compared with the previous piece: Indépendance des mains — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.
Ambitious challenge

A useful leap with guided practice.

Challenge
3 Studies, op. 18, BB81, Sz.72
Béla Bartók
90/100 +18 pts 32-64 weeks
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. New compared with the previous piece: Doubles notes and Style moderne et contemporain — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.
Challenge
Etudes-tableaux, op. 39
Sergei Rachmaninoff
88/100 +16 pts 32-64 weeks
new reflexes 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. New compared with the previous piece: Doubles notes — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.
Challenge
Étude Op. 10, No. 6
Frédéric Chopin
87/100 +15 pts 32-64 weeks
new reflexes 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. The skill that will carry the work: Passages rapides — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.
Same level

To widen the repertoire without raising the level.

Same level
Toccata no. 1 for keyboard
Béla Bartók
75/100 +3 pts 5-8 weeks
partial transfer low risk to confirm
Equivalent demands, still Advanced (around grade 8 ABRSM/RCM): what changes is the ground. What changes is the skill in play: Staccato and Style moderne et contemporain — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.
Same level
Fantaisie and Toccata, H. 281
Bohuslav Martinů
75/100 +3 pts 5-8 weeks
partial transfer low risk to confirm
Equivalent demands, still Advanced (around grade 8 ABRSM/RCM): what changes is the ground. What changes is the skill in play: Staccato and Style moderne et contemporain — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.
Same level
Fugue in C minor, for organ
Charles Ives
75/100 +3 pts 5-8 weeks
partial transfer low risk to confirm
Equivalent demands, still Advanced (around grade 8 ABRSM/RCM): what changes is the ground. What changes is the skill in play: Analyse harmonique and Ornements baroque — understand the form and the harmony before memorising, or memory collapses the moment you play for someone.
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.