Repertoire › Morceau de concours › What to play next
What to play after Morceau de concours ?
Claude Debussy · difficulty 64/100

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 Sonatina
Maurice Ravel
68/100 +4 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). New compared with the previous piece: Indépendance des mains — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.
Gentle
Piano Piece g minor
Clara Wieck-Schumann
70/100 +6 pts 7-14 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 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
Klavierstücke, op. 32
Robert Schumann
71/100 +6 pts 7-14 weeks
partial transfer low risk to confirm
A short step up — but it is the one that moves you into Advanced (around grade 7 ABRSM/RCM). The demand here is musical rather than mechanical: Tempo rubato — the pitfall is the pulse drifting as soon as the writing thickens: subdivide with the metronome.
Gentle
Le Vent dans la plaine
Claude Debussy
68/100 +3 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: Style impressionniste — the notes are not enough: articulation and ornaments follow performance conventions best checked in an urtext edition.
Gentle
Hommage à Haydn
Claude Debussy
71/100 +7 pts 7-14 weeks
close skills low risk to confirm
Next piece in the same collection, Advanced (around grade 7 ABRSM/RCM): the order its editor chose, a progression already tested. 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
Sonatine (all mvts)
Maurice Ravel
73/100 +9 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). New compared with the previous piece: Style classique and Connaissance des formes — the notes are not enough: articulation and ornaments follow performance conventions best checked in an urtext edition.
Balanced
Hommage à Rameau
Claude Debussy
73/100 +9 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). 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.
Balanced
Les fées sont d'exquises danseuses
Claude Debussy
73/100 +9 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: Style impressionniste — the notes are not enough: articulation and ornaments follow performance conventions best checked in an urtext edition.
Balanced
Sonatine
Maurice Ravel
72/100 +8 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). New compared with the previous piece: Style classique and Connaissance des formes — the notes are not enough: articulation and ornaments follow performance conventions best checked in an urtext edition.
Ambitious challenge

A useful leap with guided practice.

Challenge
Klavierstück op. 33b
Arnold Schoenberg
81/100 +17 pts 32-64 weeks
close skills 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. 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.
Challenge
La cathédrale engloutie L.117
Claude Debussy
81/100 +17 pts 32-64 weeks
new reflexes 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: Octaves and Balance mains — 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
La Danse de Puck
Claude Debussy
66/100 +2 pts 4-7 weeks
partial transfer low risk to confirm
Equivalent demands, right at the edge of Advanced (around grade 7 ABRSM/RCM): different ground, same level. What changes is the skill in play: Staccato and Rythmes pointés — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.
Same level
Sonata in B-flat major K.333
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
66/100 +2 pts 4-7 weeks
new reflexes low risk to confirm
Equivalent demands, right at the edge of Advanced (around grade 7 ABRSM/RCM): different ground, same level. What changes is the skill in play: Connaissance des formes — understand the form and the harmony before memorising, or memory collapses the moment you play for someone.
Same level
Ballade
Claude Debussy
61/100 -3 pts 4-7 weeks
close skills 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: Contrôle du toucher — what matters is quality of attack and evenness of tone, not speed.
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.