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What to play after L’Isle joyeuse ?
Claude Debussy · difficulty 81/100

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
Étude Op. 10, No. 3
Frédéric Chopin
86/100 +5 pts 8-16 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: Voix chantante and Passages rapides — the notes will be secure long before the musical line: work in whole phrases, singing the main voice.
Gentle
Toccata
Claude Debussy
87/100 +5 pts 8-16 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: Passages rapides and Ornements romantiques — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.
Gentle
Sonata in B-flat major, D. 960
Franz Schubert
85/100 +4 pts 8-16 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: Passages rapides — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.
Gentle
Variations on "Trockne Blumen" e minor op. post. 160 D 802
Antonio Vivaldi
85/100 +3 pts 8-16 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: Contrôle du toucher — what matters is quality of attack and evenness of tone, not speed.
Gentle
Piano Sonata no. 3 in F minor, op. 5
Johannes Brahms
88/100 +7 pts 8-16 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: 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 step

A genuine step up, without a jolt.

Balanced
Feux d'artifice
Claude Debussy
93/100 +11 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: Passages rapides — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.
Balanced
Piano Sonata no. 8 in A major, op. 66
Alexander Scriabin
91/100 +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: Connaissance des formes — understand the form and the harmony before memorising, or memory collapses the moment you play for someone.
Balanced
Étude Op. 10, No. 1
Frédéric Chopin
90/100 +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: Passages rapides — 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.

Challenge
Ab irato, S.143, "The Perfect Etude"
Franz Liszt
100/100 +19 pts 40-80 weeks
new reflexes high risk to confirm
An ambitious leap while staying in Great repertoire (diploma level, beyond grade 8) — only worth starting if the practice time is really there. New compared with the previous piece: Gammes et arpèges and Demi-pédale — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.
Challenge
Fantasy and Fugue on the Chorale Ad nos, ad salutarem undam, S.624, R.314
Franz Liszt
98/100 +17 pts 36-72 weeks
new reflexes high risk to confirm
An ambitious leap while staying in Great repertoire (diploma level, beyond grade 8) — only worth starting if the practice time is really there. New compared with the previous piece: Analyse harmonique — understand the form and the harmony before memorising, or memory collapses the moment you play for someone.
Challenge
Masques
Claude Debussy
70/100 -12 pts 24-48 weeks
partial transfer moderate risk to confirm
Next piece in the same collection, Advanced (around grade 7 ABRSM/RCM): the order its editor chose, a progression already tested. 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.
Same level

To widen the repertoire without raising the level.

Same level
La cathédrale engloutie L.117
Claude Debussy
81/100 same level 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: Octaves and Balance mains — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.
Same level
Préludes, Book 1, L.117
Claude Debussy
80/100 -1 pts 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: Ornements romantiques — ornaments must be secure before the piece goes up to tempo, otherwise they break the line instead of decorating it.
Same level
Ballade No.2 in F major Op.38
Frédéric Chopin
79/100 -3 pts 5-8 weeks
partial transfer low risk to confirm
Equivalent demands, right at the edge of Advanced (around grade 8 ABRSM/RCM): different ground, same level. What changes is the skill in play: Connaissance des formes and Passages rapides — understand the form and the harmony before memorising, or memory collapses the moment you play for someone.
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.