Repertoire › Ballad II (1854) b minor › What to play next
What to play after Ballad II (1854) b minor ?
Franz Liszt · difficulty 86/100

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
Mazeppa, S.640
Franz Liszt
92/100 +6 pts 9-18 weeks
partial transfer low risk to confirm
A short step up, staying in Great repertoire (diploma level, beyond grade 8). 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.
Gentle
Wanderer Fantasy, S.366
Franz Liszt
90/100 +4 pts 9-18 weeks
partial transfer low risk to confirm
A short step up, staying in Great repertoire (diploma level, beyond grade 8). New compared with the previous piece: Ornements romantiques and Indépendance des mains — ornaments must be secure before the piece goes up to tempo, otherwise they break the line instead of decorating it.
Gentle
Étude Op. 10, No. 5
Frédéric Chopin
90/100 +4 pts 9-18 weeks
partial transfer low risk to confirm
A short step up, staying in Great repertoire (diploma level, beyond grade 8). New compared with the previous piece: Octaves — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.
Gentle
Étude Op. 10, No. 1
Frédéric Chopin
90/100 +4 pts 9-18 weeks
partial transfer low risk to confirm
A short step up, staying in Great repertoire (diploma level, beyond grade 8). 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
Feux d'artifice
Claude Debussy
93/100 +7 pts 9-18 weeks
partial transfer low risk to confirm
A short step up, staying in Great repertoire (diploma level, beyond grade 8). New compared with the previous piece: Doubles notes — 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
Piano Sonata b minor
Franz Liszt
95/100 +9 pts 18-36 weeks
close skills moderate risk to confirm
A real step up, staying in Great repertoire (diploma level, beyond grade 8). 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.
Balanced
Rhapsodie espagnole, S.254, R.90, "Folies d'Espagne et jota aragonesa"
Franz Liszt
95/100 +9 pts 18-36 weeks
partial transfer moderate risk to confirm
A real step up, staying in Great repertoire (diploma level, beyond grade 8). New compared with the previous piece: Octaves — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.
Balanced
Piano Sonata no. 29 in B flat major, op. 106, "Hammerklavier"
Ludwig van Beethoven
95/100 +9 pts 18-36 weeks
new reflexes moderate risk to confirm
A real step up, staying in Great repertoire (diploma level, beyond grade 8). New compared with the previous piece: Connaissance des formes and Indépendance des mains — understand the form and the harmony before memorising, or memory collapses the moment you play for someone.
Balanced
Variations and Toccata on 'Aurora lucis rutilat', op. 52
Alberto Ginastera
95/100 +9 pts 18-36 weeks
new reflexes moderate risk to confirm
A real step up, staying in Great repertoire (diploma level, beyond grade 8). New compared with the previous piece: Staccato and Connaissance des formes — 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.

No suggestion yet.

Same level

To widen the repertoire without raising the level.

Same level
Hungarian Rhapsody no. 4
Franz Liszt
86/100 same level 6-9 weeks
partial transfer low risk to confirm
Equivalent demands, still Great repertoire (diploma level, beyond grade 8): what changes is the ground. What changes is the skill in play: Polyrhythmie 2 contre 3 — the pitfall is the pulse drifting as soon as the writing thickens: subdivide with the metronome.
Same level
Piano Sonata in B minor S.178
Franz Liszt
86/100 same level 6-9 weeks
partial transfer low risk to confirm
Equivalent demands, still Great repertoire (diploma level, beyond grade 8): what changes is the ground. What changes is the skill in play: Trilles and Connaissance des formes — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.
Same level
Goldberg Variations, BWV.988
Johann Sebastian Bach
87/100 +1 pts 6-9 weeks
new reflexes low risk to confirm
Equivalent demands, still Great repertoire (diploma level, beyond grade 8): what changes is the ground. What changes is the skill in play: 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.
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.