Repertoire › 5 Little Pieces › What to play next
What to play after 5 Little Pieces ?
Felix Mendelssohn · difficulty 25/100

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
Nachspiel in D
Felix Mendelssohn
30/100 +5 pts 3-6 weeks
close skills low risk to confirm
A short step up, staying in Elementary (around grade 3 ABRSM/RCM). The demand here is musical rather than mechanical: Nuances — the notes will be secure long before the musical line: work in whole phrases, singing the main voice.
Gentle
Ostinato in C minor
Felix Mendelssohn
30/100 +5 pts 3-6 weeks
close skills low risk to confirm
A short step up, staying in Elementary (around grade 3 ABRSM/RCM). The demand here is musical rather than mechanical: Nuances — the notes will be secure long before the musical line: work in whole phrases, singing the main voice.
Gentle
Nouvelles pièces enfantines, 3 pieces
Erik Satie
30/100 +5 pts 3-6 weeks
close skills low risk to confirm
A short step up, staying in Elementary (around grade 3 ABRSM/RCM). The demand here is musical rather than mechanical: Phrasé — the notes will be secure long before the musical line: work in whole phrases, singing the main voice.
Gentle
8 Pieces breves, op. 84
Gabriel Fauré
30/100 +5 pts 3-6 weeks
close skills low risk to confirm
A short step up, staying in Elementary (around grade 3 ABRSM/RCM). The demand here is musical rather than mechanical: Nuances — the notes will be secure long before the musical line: work in whole phrases, singing the main voice.
Gentle
5 Pieces for Piano, FS10, op. 3
Carl Nielsen
30/100 +5 pts 3-6 weeks
close skills low risk to confirm
A short step up, staying in Elementary (around grade 3 ABRSM/RCM). The demand here is musical rather than mechanical: Phrasé — the notes will be secure long before the musical line: work in whole phrases, singing the main voice.
Balanced step

A genuine step up, without a jolt.

Balanced
6 Pieces, B.110, op. 52
Antonín Dvořák
35/100 +10 pts 6-12 weeks
close skills moderate risk to confirm
A real step up, staying in Elementary (around grade 4 ABRSM/RCM). The demand here is musical rather than mechanical: Phrasé — the notes will be secure long before the musical line: work in whole phrases, singing the main voice.
Balanced
Album Leaf, EG109
Edvard Grieg
35/100 +10 pts 6-12 weeks
close skills moderate risk to confirm
A real step up, staying in Elementary (around grade 4 ABRSM/RCM). The demand here is musical rather than mechanical: Nuances — the notes will be secure long before the musical line: work in whole phrases, singing the main voice.
Balanced
March in C
Felix Mendelssohn
35/100 +10 pts 6-12 weeks
close skills moderate risk to confirm
A real step up, staying in Elementary (around grade 4 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.
Balanced
Piano Sonatina in E
Felix Mendelssohn
33/100 +8 pts 6-12 weeks
close skills moderate risk to confirm
A real step up, staying in Elementary (around grade 4 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.
Ambitious challenge

A useful leap with guided practice.

Challenge
Albumblatt in A
Felix Mendelssohn
40/100 +15 pts 16-32 weeks
close skills moderate risk to confirm
An ambitious leap while staying in Elementary (around grade 4 ABRSM/RCM) — only worth starting if the practice time is really there. The demand here is musical rather than mechanical: Phrasé — the notes will be secure long before the musical line: work in whole phrases, singing the main voice.
Challenge
3 Preludes for piano, op. 104a
Felix Mendelssohn
40/100 +15 pts 16-32 weeks
close skills moderate risk to confirm
An ambitious leap while staying in Elementary (around grade 4 ABRSM/RCM) — only worth starting if the practice time is really there. The demand here is musical rather than mechanical: Phrasé — the notes will be secure long before the musical line: work in whole phrases, singing the main voice.
Challenge
Piano Piece in A flat major, S189a/R44a
Franz Liszt
40/100 +15 pts 16-32 weeks
close skills moderate risk to confirm
An ambitious leap while staying in Elementary (around grade 4 ABRSM/RCM) — only worth starting if the practice time is really there. The demand here is musical rather than mechanical: Phrasé — the notes will be secure long before the musical line: work in whole phrases, singing the main voice.
Same level

To widen the repertoire without raising the level.

Same level
Kleines Lied in A
Felix Mendelssohn
25/100 same level 1-2 weeks
close skills low risk to confirm
Equivalent demands, still Elementary (around grade 3 ABRSM/RCM): what changes is the ground. The demand here is musical rather than mechanical: Tempo rubato — the pitfall is the pulse drifting as soon as the writing thickens: subdivide with the metronome.
Same level
Madeleine, polka-mazurka
Jacques Offenbach
25/100 same level 1-2 weeks
close skills low risk to confirm
Equivalent demands, still Elementary (around grade 3 ABRSM/RCM): what changes is the ground. What changes is the skill in play: Rythmes pointés and Staccato — the pitfall is the pulse drifting as soon as the writing thickens: subdivide with the metronome.
Same level
Children's Piece MWV U 167
Felix Mendelssohn
22/100 -3 pts 1-2 weeks
new reflexes low risk to confirm
Equivalent demands, right at the edge of Beginner (around grade 2 ABRSM/RCM): different ground, same level. The demand here is musical rather than mechanical: Phrasé — the notes will be secure long before the musical line: work in whole phrases, singing the main voice.
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.