Repertoire › Prelude a minor BWV 895 › What to play next
What to play after Prelude a minor BWV 895 ?
Johann Sebastian Bach · difficulty 45/100

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.

Back to the full work page
Gentle step

The safest next step.

Gentle
Prelude in B minor, BWV.923
Johann Sebastian Bach
50/100 +5 pts 5-10 weeks
partial transfer low risk to confirm
A short step up — but it is the one that moves you into Intermediate (around grade 6 ABRSM/RCM). 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.
Gentle
Appendix: Initial Prélude HWV 572
George Frideric Handel
50/100 +5 pts 5-10 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 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
Appendix: Initial Prélude HWV 570
George Frideric Handel
50/100 +5 pts 5-10 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 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
Prelude in D minor BWV 851 (WTC I)
Johann Sebastian Bach
51/100 +6 pts 5-10 weeks
close skills low risk fair confidence
A short step up — but it is the one that moves you into Intermediate (around grade 6 ABRSM/RCM). New compared with the previous piece: Polyphonie à trois voix ou plus — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.
Gentle
Moment Musical Op.94 No.6 in A-flat major
Franz Schubert
51/100 +7 pts 5-10 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 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
Appendix: Initial Prélude HWV 566
George Frideric Handel
54/100 +10 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 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
Prelude and Fugue in D major BWV 850 (WTC I)
Johann Sebastian Bach
57/100 +13 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: 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
Prélude E major op. 11,9
Alexander Scriabin
54/100 +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 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
Appendix: Prélude - Aria von variazioni; Earlier version HWV 434
George Frideric Handel
53/100 +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 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.
Ambitious challenge

A useful leap with guided practice.

Challenge
Prelude
Claude Debussy
63/100 +18 pts 24-48 weeks
close skills high risk to confirm
An ambitious leap into Intermediate (around grade 7 ABRSM/RCM) — only worth starting if the practice time is really there. New compared with the previous piece: Style impressionniste — the notes are not enough: articulation and ornaments follow performance conventions best checked in an urtext edition.
Challenge
Prelude and Fugue No.21 in B-flat major BWV 866
Johann Sebastian Bach
62/100 +17 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. New compared with the previous piece: Connaissance des formes and Style baroque — understand the form and the harmony before memorising, or memory collapses the moment you play for someone.
Challenge
Prelude in E-flat major BWV 852 (WTC I)
Johann Sebastian Bach
64/100 +19 pts 24-48 weeks
close skills high risk to confirm
An ambitious leap into Intermediate (around grade 7 ABRSM/RCM) — only worth starting if the practice time is really there. New compared with the previous piece: Polyphonie à deux voix — 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
Komm, heiliger Geist, erfüll die Herzen, chorale prelude for organ, BWV. deest
Johann Sebastian Bach
45/100 same level 3-4 weeks
partial transfer low risk to confirm
Equivalent demands, right at the edge of Intermediate (around grade 5 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.
Same level
Humoresque A flat major op. 101,3
Antonín Dvořák
46/100 +1 pts 3-4 weeks
close skills low risk to confirm
Equivalent demands, right at the edge of Intermediate (around grade 5 ABRSM/RCM): different ground, same level. What changes is the skill in play: Demi-pédale — the pedal is set by ear, note by note: misjudged, it blurs the harmony instead of joining it.
Same level
Deux arabesques No.1
Claude Debussy
47/100 +2 pts 3-4 weeks
partial transfer low risk to confirm
Equivalent demands, right at the edge of Intermediate (around grade 5 ABRSM/RCM): different ground, same level. What changes is the skill in play: Ornements romantiques — ornaments must be secure before the piece goes up to tempo, otherwise they break the line instead of decorating it.
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.