Repertoire › No.122 — Chords Together and in Opposition › What to play next
What to play after No.122 — Chords Together and in Opposition ?
Béla Bartók · difficulty 43/100

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
Suite f minor BWV 823
Johann Sebastian Bach
47/100 +5 pts 4-8 weeks
partial transfer low risk to confirm
A short step up — but it is the one that moves you into Intermediate (around grade 5 ABRSM/RCM). The skill that will carry the work: Polyphonie à deux voix — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.
Gentle
Ponteios, Book 3
Camargo Guarnieri
48/100 +5 pts 4-8 weeks
partial transfer low risk to confirm
A short step up — but it is the one that moves you into Intermediate (around grade 5 ABRSM/RCM). New compared with the previous piece: Style moderne et contemporain and Passages rapides — the notes are not enough: articulation and ornaments follow performance conventions best checked in an urtext edition.
Gentle
Well-tempered Clavier, Book 1, BWV.846-869
Johann Sebastian Bach
47/100 +4 pts 4-8 weeks
new reflexes low risk to confirm
A short step up — but it is the one that moves you into Intermediate (around grade 5 ABRSM/RCM). New compared with the previous piece: Polyphonie à trois voix ou plus and Connaissance des formes — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.
Gentle
Scherzo
Béla Bartók
46/100 +3 pts 4-8 weeks
close skills low risk to confirm
A short step up — but it is the one that moves you into Intermediate (around grade 5 ABRSM/RCM). New compared with the previous piece: Voix chantante and Passages rapides — the notes will be secure long before the musical line: work in whole phrases, singing the main voice.
Gentle
No.126 — Change of Time
Béla Bartók
50/100 +7 pts 4-8 weeks
close skills low risk to confirm
A short step up — but it is the one that moves you into Intermediate (around grade 6 ABRSM/RCM). The skill that will carry the work: Passages rapides and Analyse harmonique — 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
Wrestling
Béla Bartók
53/100 +11 pts 10-20 weeks
partial transfer moderate risk to confirm
A real step up: this piece moves you into Intermediate (around grade 6 ABRSM/RCM). 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
Preludio y ritornello, for harpsichord
Joaquín Rodrigo
55/100 +12 pts 10-20 weeks
partial transfer moderate risk to confirm
A real step up: this piece moves you into Intermediate (around grade 6 ABRSM/RCM). New compared with the previous piece: Style moderne et contemporain and Analyse harmonique — the notes are not enough: articulation and ornaments follow performance conventions best checked in an urtext edition.
Balanced
Fugue E major HWV 612
George Frideric Handel
52/100 +9 pts 10-20 weeks
partial transfer moderate risk to confirm
A real step up: this piece moves you into Intermediate (around grade 6 ABRSM/RCM). The skill that will carry the work: Polyphonie à deux voix — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.
Balanced
No.128 — Peasant Dance
Béla Bartók
52/100 +9 pts 10-20 weeks
close skills moderate risk to confirm
A real step up: this piece moves you into Intermediate (around grade 6 ABRSM/RCM). 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.
Ambitious challenge

A useful leap with guided practice.

Challenge
Bagpipe
Béla Bartók
60/100 +18 pts 24-48 weeks
new reflexes high risk to confirm
An ambitious leap into Intermediate (around grade 6 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.
Challenge
7. Variante della precedente (concert version)
Béla Bartók
62/100 +19 pts 24-48 weeks
new reflexes high risk to confirm
An ambitious leap into Intermediate (around grade 7 ABRSM/RCM) — only worth starting if the practice time is really there. The demand here is musical rather than mechanical: Style romantique — the notes are not enough: articulation and ornaments follow performance conventions best checked in an urtext edition.
Challenge
Nocturne in B-flat minor Op.9 No.1
Frédéric Chopin
59/100 +16 pts 20-40 weeks
new reflexes high risk to confirm
An ambitious leap into Intermediate (around grade 6 ABRSM/RCM) — only worth starting if the practice time is really there. New compared with the previous piece: Octaves and Voix chantante — 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
Invention No.14 in B-flat major BWV 785
Johann Sebastian Bach
43/100 same level 3-4 weeks
new reflexes low risk to confirm
Equivalent demands, still Elementary (around grade 5 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.
Same level
Toccata from Mikrokosmos Vol.4 No.115
Béla Bartók
42/100 -1 pts 3-4 weeks
partial transfer low risk to confirm
Equivalent demands, still Elementary (around grade 5 ABRSM/RCM): what changes is the ground. What changes is the skill in play: Staccato — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.
Same level
Allegro BB 79,14
Béla Bartók
42/100 -1 pts 3-4 weeks
new reflexes low risk to confirm
Equivalent demands, still Elementary (around grade 5 ABRSM/RCM): what changes is the ground. 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.
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.