Repertoire › Prelude and Fugue in D major BWV 850 (WTC I) › What to play next
What to play after Prelude and Fugue in D major BWV 850 (WTC I) ?
Johann Sebastian Bach · difficulty 57/100

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
Prelude and Fugue No.18 in G-sharp minor BWV 863
Johann Sebastian Bach
62/100 +5 pts 6-12 weeks
close skills low risk fair confidence
A short step up, staying in Intermediate (around grade 7 ABRSM/RCM). New compared with the previous piece: Style baroque and Rythmes pointés — the notes are not enough: articulation and ornaments follow performance conventions best checked in an urtext edition.
Gentle
Fugue in G minor, K.401
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
61/100 +4 pts 6-12 weeks
close skills low risk to confirm
A short step up, staying in Intermediate (around grade 7 ABRSM/RCM). New compared with the previous piece: Style classique and Indépendance des mains — the notes are not enough: articulation and ornaments follow performance conventions best checked in an urtext edition.
Gentle
Prelude and Fugue in C major, K.394
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
63/100 +6 pts 6-12 weeks
close skills low risk to confirm
A short step up, staying in Intermediate (around grade 7 ABRSM/RCM). New compared with the previous piece: Style classique and Polyphonie à deux voix — the notes are not enough: articulation and ornaments follow performance conventions best checked in an urtext edition.
Gentle
Prelude and Fugue No.16 in G minor BWV 861
Johann Sebastian Bach
61/100 +3 pts 6-12 weeks
close skills low risk fair confidence
A short step up, staying in Intermediate (around grade 7 ABRSM/RCM). New compared with the previous piece: Style baroque and Rythmes pointés — the notes are not enough: articulation and ornaments follow performance conventions best checked in an urtext edition.
Gentle
Fugue in D minor
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach
64/100 +7 pts 6-12 weeks
close skills low risk to confirm
A short step up, staying in Intermediate (around grade 7 ABRSM/RCM). New compared with the previous piece: Style classique and Polyphonie à deux voix — the notes are not enough: articulation and ornaments follow performance conventions best checked in an urtext edition.
Balanced step

A genuine step up, without a jolt.

Balanced
Prelude and Fugue no. 1 in D major, op. 93
Alexander Glazunov
70/100 +13 pts 14-28 weeks
close skills moderate risk to confirm
A real step up: this piece moves you into Advanced (around grade 7 ABRSM/RCM). The skill that will carry the work: 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.
Balanced
Prelude and Fugue in C-sharp minor BWV 848 (WTC I)
Johann Sebastian Bach
66/100 +9 pts 12-24 weeks
close skills moderate risk fair confidence
A real step up: this piece moves you into Advanced (around grade 7 ABRSM/RCM). The skill that will carry the work: 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.
Balanced
Fugue no. 2 en Do Mineur, BWV.871
Johann Sebastian Bach
70/100 +13 pts 14-28 weeks
partial transfer moderate risk fair confidence
Next piece in the same collection, Advanced (around grade 7 ABRSM/RCM): the order its editor chose, a progression already tested. 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
Fugue in E flat major, Wq.119, no. 6, H.102
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach
66/100 +9 pts 12-24 weeks
close skills moderate risk to confirm
A real step up: this piece moves you into Advanced (around grade 7 ABRSM/RCM). New compared with the previous piece: Style classique and Analyse harmonique — 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
Préludes Book I No.10 (La cathédrale engloutie)
Claude Debussy
76/100 +19 pts 28-56 weeks
new reflexes high risk to confirm
An ambitious leap into Advanced (around grade 8 ABRSM/RCM) — only worth starting if the practice time is really there. New compared with the previous piece: Octaves and Balance mains — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.
Challenge
Fugue no. 5 en Ré Majeur, BWV.874
Johann Sebastian Bach
73/100 +16 pts 28-56 weeks
partial transfer high risk to confirm
An ambitious leap into Advanced (around grade 8 ABRSM/RCM) — only worth starting if the practice time is really there. 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.
Challenge
Invention No.3 in D major BWV 774
Johann Sebastian Bach
38/100 -19 pts 12-24 weeks
new reflexes high risk to confirm
Next piece in the same collection, Elementary (around grade 4 ABRSM/RCM): the order its editor chose, a progression already tested. New compared with the previous piece: Style baroque and Indépendance des mains — the notes are not enough: articulation and ornaments follow performance conventions best checked in an urtext edition.
Same level

To widen the repertoire without raising the level.

Same level
French Suite no. 2 in C minor, BWV.813
Johann Sebastian Bach
57/100 same level 4-6 weeks
partial transfer low risk to confirm
Equivalent demands, still Intermediate (around grade 6 ABRSM/RCM): what changes is the ground. What changes is the skill in play: Style baroque and Ornements baroque — the notes are not enough: articulation and ornaments follow performance conventions best checked in an urtext edition.
Same level
Nocturne in B-flat minor Op.9 No.1
Frédéric Chopin
59/100 +2 pts 4-6 weeks
new reflexes low risk to confirm
Equivalent demands, still Intermediate (around grade 6 ABRSM/RCM): what changes is the ground. What changes is the skill in play: Octaves and Voix chantante — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.
Same level
Sinfonia No.9 in F minor BWV 795
Johann Sebastian Bach
55/100 -2 pts 4-6 weeks
new reflexes low risk to confirm
Equivalent demands, still Intermediate (around grade 6 ABRSM/RCM): what changes is the ground. What changes is the skill in play: Style baroque and Indépendance des mains — the notes are not enough: articulation and ornaments follow performance conventions best checked in an urtext edition.
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.