Repertoire › Étude in G-flat major Op.10 No.5 (Black Keys) › What to play next
What to play after Étude in G-flat major Op.10 No.5 (Black Keys) ?
Frédéric Chopin · difficulty 77/100

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
Étude No.3 from Trois nouvelles études
Frédéric Chopin
82/100 +5 pts 8-16 weeks
partial transfer low risk to confirm
A short step up — but it is the one that moves you into Great repertoire (diploma level, beyond grade 8). New compared with the previous piece: Octaves and Doigté complexe — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.
Gentle
Etude E flat major op. 42 no. 8
Alexander Scriabin
83/100 +6 pts 8-16 weeks
partial transfer low risk to confirm
A short step up — but it is the one that 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.
Gentle
Etude 14a, for player piano, "Coloana färä stârsit"
György Ligeti
80/100 +3 pts 8-16 weeks
close skills low risk to confirm
A short step up — but it is the one that moves you into Great repertoire (diploma level, beyond grade 8). 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.
Gentle
Étude
Igor Stravinsky
80/100 +3 pts 8-16 weeks
partial transfer low risk to confirm
A short step up — but it is the one that moves you into Great repertoire (diploma level, beyond grade 8). New compared with the previous piece: Style moderne et contemporain and Trilles — the notes are not enough: articulation and ornaments follow performance conventions best checked in an urtext edition.
Gentle
Étude in C major Op.10 No.1
Frédéric Chopin
80/100 +3 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: Grands accords et extensions — 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
3 Studies, op. 18, BB81, Sz.72
Béla Bartók
90/100 +13 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 moderne et contemporain and Doubles notes — the notes are not enough: articulation and ornaments follow performance conventions best checked in an urtext edition.
Balanced
Étude Op. 10, No. 1
Frédéric Chopin
90/100 +13 pts 18-36 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: Passages rapides — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.
Balanced
Toccata for Organ, op. 59
Einojuhani Rautavaara
85/100 +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: Doubles notes — 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
Hungarian Rhapsody no. 6
Franz Liszt
93/100 +17 pts 36-72 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: Ornements romantiques and Doubles notes — ornaments must be secure before the piece goes up to tempo, otherwise they break the line instead of decorating it.
Challenge
Mephisto Waltz no. 4, S.696
Franz Liszt
92/100 +15 pts 36-72 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. New compared with the previous piece: Trilles and Rythmes pointés — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.
Challenge
Liszt: Cadenza on Hungarian Rhapsody no. 2, TN iii/6
Sergei Rachmaninoff
92/100 +15 pts 36-72 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. New compared with the previous piece: Rythmes pointés and Ornements romantiques — the pitfall is the pulse drifting as soon as the writing thickens: subdivide with the metronome.
Same level

To widen the repertoire without raising the level.

Same level
Etude in A-flat major Op.25 No.1 (Aeolian Harp)
Frédéric Chopin
76/100 -1 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: Croisements de mains — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.
Same level
Etude A flat major KK IIb, 3,2
Frédéric Chopin
75/100 -2 pts 5-8 weeks
new reflexes 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: Doubles notes — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.
Same level
Toccata, op. 7
Robert Schumann
79/100 +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: Trilles — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.
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.