Repertoire › Gondola Song A major › What to play next
What to play after Gondola Song A major ?
Felix Mendelssohn · difficulty 45/100

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Gentle step

The safest next step.

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
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
Piano Sonata b minor Wq 62,22
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach
50/100 +6 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
Song without Words E flat major op. 30,1
Felix Mendelssohn
48/100 +4 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
Song without Words (Duetto) A flat major op. 38,6
Felix Mendelssohn
48/100 +4 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.
Balanced step

A genuine step up, without a jolt.

Balanced
Song without Words f sharp minor op. 67,2
Felix Mendelssohn
57/100 +12 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
Piano Sonata C major Wq 62,10
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach
57/100 +12 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
Song without Words c minor op. 38,2
Felix Mendelssohn
57/100 +13 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
8. Allegro (concert version)
Béla Bartók
53/100 +8 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
D major MWV U 178
Felix Mendelssohn
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. 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
Rêverie L.68
Claude Debussy
61/100 +16 pts 24-48 weeks
partial transfer 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: Voix chantante — the notes will be secure long before the musical line: work in whole phrases, singing the main voice.
Challenge
Allegro, Chorale, and Fugue in D
Felix Mendelssohn
60/100 +15 pts 24-48 weeks
new reflexes moderate 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: Polyphonie à trois voix ou plus and Analyse harmonique — 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
Allegro in B flat major
Felix Mendelssohn
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. 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.
Same level
Piano Sonata G major K. 283 (189h)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
44/100 same level 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: Connaissance des formes and Indépendance des mains — understand the form and the harmony before memorising, or memory collapses the moment you play for someone.
Same level
Song without Words (Venetian Gondola Song) a minor op. 62,5
Felix Mendelssohn
47/100 +2 pts 3-4 weeks
close skills low risk to confirm
Next piece in the same collection, Intermediate (around grade 5 ABRSM/RCM): the order its editor chose, a progression already tested. 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.
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.