Repertoire › The Little Shepherd › What to play next
What to play after The Little Shepherd ?
Claude Debussy · difficulty 41/100

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
I. Molto moderato
Béla Bartók
46/100 +5 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). The skill that will carry the work: Style impressionniste — the notes are not enough: articulation and ornaments follow performance conventions best checked in an urtext edition.
Gentle
No. 5 "Fragen" from "Petit Album" op. 134,5
Niels Wilhelm Gade
47/100 +6 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). 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
Gondola Song A major
Felix Mendelssohn
45/100 +4 pts 4-8 weeks
close skills low risk to confirm
A short step up, staying in Elementary (around grade 5 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
Deux arabesques No.1
Claude Debussy
47/100 +6 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: Ornements romantiques — ornaments must be secure before the piece goes up to tempo, otherwise they break the line instead of decorating it.
Gentle
Deux Arabesques
Claude Debussy
44/100 +3 pts 4-8 weeks
close skills low risk to confirm
A short step up, staying in Elementary (around grade 5 ABRSM/RCM). The skill that will carry the work: Style impressionniste — the notes are not enough: articulation and ornaments follow performance conventions best checked in an urtext edition.
Balanced step

A genuine step up, without a jolt.

Balanced
Appendix: Initial Prélude HWV 572
George Frideric Handel
50/100 +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: Initial Prélude HWV 570
George Frideric Handel
50/100 +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
Pour l’oeuvre du “Vêtement du blessé”
Claude Debussy
50/100 +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: Style impressionniste — the notes are not enough: articulation and ornaments follow performance conventions best checked in an urtext edition.
Balanced
Arabesque No.1
Claude Debussy
49/100 +8 pts 8-16 weeks
close skills moderate risk to confirm
Next piece in the same collection, Intermediate (around grade 5 ABRSM/RCM): the order its editor chose, a progression already tested. New compared with the previous piece: Ornements romantiques — ornaments must be secure before the piece goes up to tempo, otherwise they break the line instead of decorating it.
Ambitious challenge

A useful leap with guided practice.

Challenge
Nocturne in B-flat minor Op.9 No.1
Frédéric Chopin
59/100 +18 pts 20-40 weeks
partial transfer 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.
Challenge
Golliwogg's Cakewalk
Claude Debussy
58/100 +17 pts 20-40 weeks
partial transfer high risk to confirm
Next piece in the same collection, Intermediate (around grade 6 ABRSM/RCM): the order its editor chose, a progression already tested. New compared with the previous piece: Syncopes — the pitfall is the pulse drifting as soon as the writing thickens: subdivide with the metronome.
Challenge
Arabesque No.1 L.66
Claude Debussy
61/100 +20 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: Contrôle du toucher — what matters is quality of attack and evenness of tone, not speed.
Same level

To widen the repertoire without raising the level.

Same level
Sonata in C major K.545
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
41/100 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 classique and Staccato — the notes are not enough: articulation and ornaments follow performance conventions best checked in an urtext edition.
Same level
Divertissement, for piano 4-hands, L.36
Claude Debussy
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: Indépendance des mains — 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.