Repertoire › Three Nocturnes › What to play next
What to play after Three Nocturnes ?
Sergei Rachmaninoff · difficulty 73/100

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
Schlaflos, Frage und Antwort, nocturne, S.203
Franz Liszt
78/100 +5 pts 7-14 weeks
close skills low risk to confirm
A short step up, staying in Advanced (around grade 8 ABRSM/RCM). The skill that will carry the work: Voix chantante — the notes will be secure long before the musical line: work in whole phrases, singing the main voice.
Gentle
Berceuse, S.174
Franz Liszt
77/100 +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: Passages rapides and Voix chantante — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.
Gentle
Nocturne No. 13 in C minor, Op. 48, No. 1
Frédéric Chopin
76/100 +3 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: Octaves and Ornements romantiques — 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
Les adieux, rêverie, from 'Romeo et Juliette', S.409, R.169
Franz Liszt
83/100 +10 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). The skill that will carry the work: Voix chantante — the notes will be secure long before the musical line: work in whole phrases, singing the main voice.
Balanced
Bach: Prelude, Gavotte, and Gigue from Partita in E for Solo Violin, TN iii/1
Sergei Rachmaninoff
83/100 +10 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: Style baroque and Ornements baroque — the notes are not enough: articulation and ornaments follow performance conventions best checked in an urtext edition.
Balanced
Variations on a Theme by Corelli, op. 42
Sergei Rachmaninoff
82/100 +9 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: Connaissance des formes and Doubles notes — understand the form and the harmony before memorising, or memory collapses the moment you play for someone.
Balanced
Les sabéennes, Berceuse from 'The Queen of Sheba', S.408, R.167
Franz Liszt
82/100 +9 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). The skill that will carry the work: Voix chantante — the notes will be secure long before the musical line: work in whole phrases, singing the main voice.
Ambitious challenge

A useful leap with guided practice.

Challenge
Piano Sonata no. 2 in B flat minor, op. 36
Sergei Rachmaninoff
91/100 +18 pts 36-72 weeks
partial transfer 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: Connaissance des formes and Passages rapides — understand the form and the harmony before memorising, or memory collapses the moment you play for someone.
Challenge
Paganini: Variation no. 18 Andante cantabile
Sergei Rachmaninoff
90/100 +17 pts 36-72 weeks
partial transfer 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: Connaissance des formes and Passages rapides — understand the form and the harmony before memorising, or memory collapses the moment you play for someone.
Challenge
Prélude, choral et fugue, M.21
César Franck
88/100 +15 pts 32-64 weeks
close skills 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. New compared with the previous piece: Analyse harmonique and Polyphonie à trois voix ou plus — understand the form and the harmony before memorising, or memory collapses the moment you play for someone.
Same level

To widen the repertoire without raising the level.

Same level
Humoresque, op. 20
Robert Schumann
73/100 same level 5-8 weeks
close skills 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: Caractère et style — the notes are not enough: articulation and ornaments follow performance conventions best checked in an urtext edition.
Same level
Préludes, op. 30
Reinhold Glière
70/100 -3 pts 5-8 weeks
partial transfer low risk to confirm
Equivalent demands, still Advanced (around grade 7 ABRSM/RCM): what changes is the ground. What changes is the skill in play: Ornements romantiques and Indépendance des mains — ornaments must be secure before the piece goes up to tempo, otherwise they break the line instead of decorating it.
Same level
Prelude and Fugue in A minor, WoO 9
Johannes Brahms
70/100 -3 pts 5-8 weeks
partial transfer low risk to confirm
Equivalent demands, still Advanced (around grade 7 ABRSM/RCM): what changes is the ground. What changes is the skill in play: Connaissance des formes and Polyphonie à trois voix ou plus — 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.