Repertoire › No.44 — Contrary Motion › What to play next
What to play after No.44 — Contrary Motion ?
Béla Bartók · difficulty 27/100

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
Piano Sonata (Wunderkind) B flat major K. 8
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
31/100 +4 pts 3-6 weeks
partial transfer 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
Piano Sonata (Wunderkind) G major K. 9
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
31/100 +4 pts 3-6 weeks
partial transfer 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
No.55 — Triplets in 9/8 Time
Béla Bartók
31/100 +4 pts 3-6 weeks
close skills low risk to confirm
A short step up, staying in 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
No.64 — Line and Point
Béla Bartók
33/100 +6 pts 3-6 weeks
close skills low risk to confirm
A short step up, staying in 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.
Gentle
Little Prelude BWV 942
Johann Sebastian Bach
30/100 +3 pts 2-4 weeks
partial transfer 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
Tale
Béla Bartók
37/100 +10 pts 6-12 weeks
partial transfer 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
Albumleave op. 7,1
Fanny Hensel
35/100 +9 pts 6-12 weeks
partial transfer 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
6. Andante
Béla Bartók
40/100 +13 pts 6-12 weeks
partial transfer 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
Prelude in E minor Op.28 No.4
Frédéric Chopin
35/100 +9 pts 6-12 weeks
partial transfer moderate risk to confirm
A real step up, staying in Elementary (around grade 4 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.
Ambitious challenge

A useful leap with guided practice.

Challenge
Piano Sonata G major K. 283 (189h)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
44/100 +18 pts 16-32 weeks
new reflexes high risk to confirm
An ambitious leap while staying in Elementary (around grade 5 ABRSM/RCM) — only worth starting if the practice time is really there. New compared with the previous piece: Connaissance des formes and Indépendance des mains — understand the form and the harmony before memorising, or memory collapses the moment you play for someone.
Challenge
Variations on a Folk Tune
Béla Bartók
42/100 +15 pts 16-32 weeks
new reflexes high risk to confirm
An ambitious leap while staying in Elementary (around grade 5 ABRSM/RCM) — only worth starting if the practice time is really there. New compared with the previous piece: Contrôle du toucher — what matters is quality of attack and evenness of tone, not speed.
Challenge
Toccata from Mikrokosmos Vol.4 No.115
Béla Bartók
42/100 +15 pts 16-32 weeks
new reflexes moderate risk to confirm
An ambitious leap while staying in Elementary (around grade 5 ABRSM/RCM) — only worth starting if the practice time is really there. 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.
Same level

To widen the repertoire without raising the level.

Same level
Broken Chords
Béla Bartók
27/100 same level 1-2 weeks
partial transfer 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: Demi-pédale and Staccato — the pedal is set by ear, note by note: misjudged, it blurs the harmony instead of joining it.
Same level
Diminished Fifths
Béla Bartók
29/100 +2 pts 1-2 weeks
partial transfer low risk to confirm
Equivalent demands, still Elementary (around grade 3 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.
Same level
Praeambulum in F major, BWV.927
Johann Sebastian Bach
24/100 -2 pts 1-2 weeks
new reflexes low risk to confirm
Equivalent demands, right at the edge of Beginner (around grade 3 ABRSM/RCM): different ground, same level. 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.
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.