Que jouer après Varied Air and Variations, for piano ?

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

Piano Sonata no. 1 in F minor, op. 1

Sergei Prokofiev

50/100 +5 pts 5-10 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: Connaissance des formes and Style moderne et contemporain — understand the form and the harmony before memorising, or memory collapses the moment you play for someone.

Gentle

Sonata for Piano 4-Hands, FP8

Francis Poulenc

50/100 +5 pts 5-10 weeks

close skills low risk to confirm

A short step up, staying in Intermediate (around grade 6 ABRSM/RCM). New compared with the previous piece: Indépendance des mains and Connaissance des formes — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.

Gentle

Sonata for Recorder and Continuo in B flat major, SF. 775

Béla Bartók

50/100 +5 pts 5-10 weeks

close skills low risk to confirm

A short step up, staying in Intermediate (around grade 6 ABRSM/RCM). New compared with the previous piece: Polyphonie à deux voix and Connaissance des formes — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.

Gentle

6 Piano Variations on an Allegretto K. 54 (547b)

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

48/100 +3 pts 4-8 weeks

close skills low risk to confirm

A short step up, staying in Intermediate (around grade 5 ABRSM/RCM). New compared with the previous piece: Style classique and Connaissance des formes — the notes are not enough: articulation and ornaments follow performance conventions best checked in an urtext edition.

Gentle

Piano Variations in E flat Hob. XVII:3

Franz Joseph Haydn

48/100 +3 pts 4-8 weeks

close skills low risk to confirm

Balanced step

A genuine step up, without a jolt.

Balanced

A Mountain Mood, Melody, and Variations

Arnold Bax

57/100 +12 pts 10-20 weeks

close skills moderate risk to confirm

A real step up, staying in Intermediate (around grade 6 ABRSM/RCM). The skill that will carry the work: Connaissance des formes and Style moderne et contemporain — understand the form and the harmony before memorising, or memory collapses the moment you play for someone.

Balanced

Piano Sonata no. 2 in D minor, op. 14

Sergei Prokofiev

55/100 +10 pts 10-20 weeks

close skills moderate risk to confirm

A real step up, staying in Intermediate (around grade 6 ABRSM/RCM). New compared with the previous piece: Indépendance des mains and Connaissance des formes — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.

Balanced

Piano Sonata, op. 1

Roy Harris

55/100 +10 pts 10-20 weeks

close skills moderate risk to confirm

Balanced

The Celestial Railroad, take off for piano

Charles Ives

55/100 +10 pts 10-20 weeks

partial transfer moderate risk to confirm

A real step up, staying in Intermediate (around grade 6 ABRSM/RCM). New compared with the previous piece: Ornements romantiques and Style moderne et contemporain — ornaments must be secure before the piece goes up to tempo, otherwise they break the line instead of decorating it.

Ambitious challenge

A useful leap with guided practice.

Challenge

The Seen and Unseen

Charles Ives

64/100 +19 pts 24-48 weeks

partial transfer high risk to confirm

An ambitious leap while staying in Intermediate (around grade 7 ABRSM/RCM) — only worth starting if the practice time is really there. New compared with the previous piece: Indépendance des mains and Style moderne et contemporain — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.

Challenge

Theme and Variation in A

Alban Berg

65/100 +20 pts 24-48 weeks

close skills 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: Demi-pédale and Connaissance des formes — the pedal is set by ear, note by note: misjudged, it blurs the harmony instead of joining it.

Challenge

Study no. 6

Charles Ives

65/100 +20 pts 24-48 weeks

partial transfer 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: Passages rapides and Style moderne et contemporain — 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

March no. 6 with 'Here's to Good Old Yale', for piano

Charles Ives

45/100 same level 3-4 weeks

partial transfer low risk to confirm

Equivalent demands, still Intermediate (around grade 5 ABRSM/RCM): what changes is the ground. The skill that will carry the work: Style moderne et contemporain — the notes are not enough: articulation and ornaments follow performance conventions best checked in an urtext edition.

Same level

10 Pieces, op. 12

Sergei Prokofiev

45/100 same level 3-4 weeks

partial transfer low risk to confirm

Equivalent demands, still Intermediate (around grade 5 ABRSM/RCM): what changes is the ground. What changes is the skill in play: Indépendance des mains and Style moderne et contemporain — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.

Same level

Bad Resolutions and Good

Charles Ives

47/100 +2 pts 3-4 weeks

partial transfer low risk to confirm

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.