Repertoire › Prelude and Fugue No.12 in F minor BWV 857 › What to play next
What to play after Prelude and Fugue No.12 in F minor BWV 857 ?
Johann Sebastian Bach · difficulty 58/100

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 in C major, K.394
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
63/100 +5 pts 6-12 weeks
partial transfer 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.18 in G-sharp minor BWV 863
Johann Sebastian Bach
62/100 +4 pts 6-12 weeks
close skills low risk fair confidence
A short step up, staying in Intermediate (around grade 7 ABRSM/RCM). The skill that will carry the work: Style baroque and Connaissance des formes — the notes are not enough: articulation and ornaments follow performance conventions best checked in an urtext edition.
Gentle
Prelude and Fugue No.21 in B-flat major BWV 866
Johann Sebastian Bach
62/100 +4 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: Passages rapides and Ornements baroque — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.
Gentle
Fugue in G minor, K.401
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
61/100 +3 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 minor, WAB 131
Anton Bruckner
65/100 +7 pts 6-12 weeks
close skills low risk to confirm
A short step up — but it is the one that 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 step

A genuine step up, without a jolt.

Balanced
Prelude and Fugue in A minor, WoO 9
Johannes Brahms
70/100 +12 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 No.24 in B minor BWV 869
Johann Sebastian Bach
67/100 +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: Style baroque and Connaissance des formes — the notes are not enough: articulation and ornaments follow performance conventions best checked in an urtext edition.
Balanced
Prelude and Fugue in C-sharp minor BWV 848 (WTC I)
Johann Sebastian Bach
66/100 +8 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
Prelude and Fugue in G minor, WoO 10
Johannes Brahms
72/100 +14 pts 14-28 weeks
close skills moderate risk to confirm
A real step up: this piece moves you into Advanced (around grade 8 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.
Ambitious challenge

A useful leap with guided practice.

Challenge
Préludes Book I No.10 (La cathédrale engloutie)
Claude Debussy
76/100 +18 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. 23 en Si Majeur, BWV.892
Johann Sebastian Bach
73/100 +15 pts 28-56 weeks
partial transfer moderate 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: Ornements baroque and Indépendance des mains — ornaments must be secure before the piece goes up to tempo, otherwise they break the line instead of decorating it.
Challenge
Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue in D minor, BWV.903
Johann Sebastian Bach
80/100 +22 pts 32-64 weeks
partial transfer 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: Croisements de mains and Ornements baroque — 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
French Suite no. 2 in C minor, BWV.813
Johann Sebastian Bach
57/100 -1 pts 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: Ornements baroque and Polyphonie à deux voix — ornaments must be secure before the piece goes up to tempo, otherwise they break the line instead of decorating it.
Same level
Arabesque No.1 L.66
Claude Debussy
61/100 +3 pts 4-7 weeks
new reflexes low risk to confirm
Equivalent demands, still Intermediate (around grade 7 ABRSM/RCM): what changes is the ground. What changes is the skill in play: Style impressionniste — the notes are not enough: articulation and ornaments follow performance conventions best checked in an urtext edition.
Same level
Sinfonia No.9 in F minor BWV 795
Johann Sebastian Bach
55/100 -3 pts 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: Indépendance des mains and Style baroque — 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.