Repertoire › No.39 — Staccato and Legato › What to play next
What to play after No.39 — Staccato and Legato ?
Béla Bartók · difficulty 22/100

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
No.37 — In Lydian Mode
Béla Bartók
28/100 +6 pts 2-4 weeks
close skills low risk to confirm
A short step up — but it is the one that moves you into Elementary (around grade 3 ABRSM/RCM). New compared with the previous piece: Ornements romantiques and Staccato — ornaments must be secure before the piece goes up to tempo, otherwise they break the line instead of decorating it.
Gentle
Czerny Étude Op.599 No.100
Carl Czerny
28/100 +6 pts 2-4 weeks
close skills low risk to confirm
A short step up — but it is the one that moves you into Elementary (around grade 3 ABRSM/RCM). New compared with the previous piece: Passages rapides — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.
Gentle
Czerny Étude Op.599 No.80
Carl Czerny
28/100 +6 pts 2-4 weeks
close skills low risk to confirm
A short step up — but it is the one that moves you into Elementary (around grade 3 ABRSM/RCM). New compared with the previous piece: Passages rapides — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.
Gentle
Écossaise in E-flat major WoO.86
Ludwig van Beethoven
29/100 +7 pts 2-4 weeks
partial transfer low risk to confirm
A short step up — but it is the one that moves you into Elementary (around grade 3 ABRSM/RCM). The demand here is musical rather than mechanical: Legato — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.
Gentle
No.66 — Melody Divided
Béla Bartók
29/100 +7 pts 2-4 weeks
close skills low risk to confirm
A short step up — but it is the one that moves you into Elementary (around grade 3 ABRSM/RCM). New compared with the previous piece: Pédale una corda and Staccato — the pedal is set by ear, note by note: misjudged, it blurs the harmony instead of joining it.
Balanced step

A genuine step up, without a jolt.

Balanced
No.64 — Line and Point
Béla Bartók
33/100 +11 pts 6-12 weeks
close skills moderate risk to confirm
A real step up: this piece moves you into Elementary (around grade 4 ABRSM/RCM). New compared with the previous piece: Analyse harmonique and Staccato — understand the form and the harmony before memorising, or memory collapses the moment you play for someone.
Balanced
Burgmüller - La tarentelle Op.100 No.20
Friedrich Burgmüller
34/100 +12 pts 6-12 weeks
partial transfer moderate risk to confirm
A real step up: this piece moves you into Elementary (around grade 4 ABRSM/RCM). The skill that will carry the work: Staccato — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.
Balanced
Burgmüller - La chevaleresque Op.100 No.25
Friedrich Burgmüller
34/100 +12 pts 6-12 weeks
partial transfer moderate risk to confirm
A real step up: this piece moves you into Elementary (around grade 4 ABRSM/RCM). The skill that will carry the work: Staccato — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.
Balanced
No.55 — Triplets in 9/8 Time
Béla Bartók
31/100 +9 pts 6-12 weeks
close skills moderate risk to confirm
A real step up: this piece moves you into Elementary (around grade 3 ABRSM/RCM). New compared with the previous piece: Passages rapides — 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
Invention No.13 in A minor BWV 784
Johann Sebastian Bach
40/100 +18 pts 16-32 weeks
new reflexes high risk to confirm
An ambitious leap into Elementary (around grade 5 ABRSM/RCM) — only worth starting if the practice time is really there. New compared with the previous piece: Style baroque and Polyphonie à deux voix — the notes are not enough: articulation and ornaments follow performance conventions best checked in an urtext edition.
Challenge
6. Andante
Béla Bartók
40/100 +18 pts 12-24 weeks
new reflexes high risk to confirm
An ambitious leap into 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
Dance of Buchum BB 68,4
Béla Bartók
37/100 +15 pts 12-24 weeks
new reflexes moderate risk to confirm
An ambitious leap into Elementary (around grade 4 ABRSM/RCM) — only worth starting if the practice time is really there. New compared with the previous piece: Rythme général — 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
Two Major Pentachords
Béla Bartók
23/100 +1 pts 1-2 weeks
partial transfer low risk to confirm
Equivalent demands, still Beginner (around grade 2 ABRSM/RCM): what changes is the ground. The skill that will carry the work: Gammes et arpèges — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.
Same level
Prelude in D minor, BWV.926
Johann Sebastian Bach
24/100 +2 pts 1-2 weeks
new reflexes low risk to confirm
Equivalent demands, still Beginner (around grade 2 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
Waves
Béla Bartók
19/100 -3 pts 1-2 weeks
new reflexes low risk to confirm
Equivalent demands, still Beginner (around grade 2 ABRSM/RCM): what changes is the ground. The skill that will carry the work: Staccato — 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.