Repertoire › 1. Allegro › What to play next
What to play after 1. Allegro ?
Béla Bartók · difficulty 51/100

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
Impromptu in A-flat major Op.142 No.2
Franz Schubert
56/100 +5 pts 5-10 weeks
close skills low risk to confirm
A short step up, staying in Intermediate (around grade 6 ABRSM/RCM). 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
Allegro BB 79,15
Béla Bartók
55/100 +4 pts 5-10 weeks
close skills low risk to confirm
A short step up, staying in Intermediate (around grade 6 ABRSM/RCM). 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
Piano Variations on the Hymn "Gott erhalte" from the Kaiserquartett Hob. III:77 G major
Franz Joseph Haydn
55/100 +4 pts 5-10 weeks
close skills low risk to confirm
A short step up, staying in 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
Moment Musical in F minor Op.94 No.3
Franz Schubert
55/100 +4 pts 5-10 weeks
close skills low risk to confirm
A short step up, staying in Intermediate (around grade 6 ABRSM/RCM). New compared with the previous piece: Contrôle du toucher — what matters is quality of attack and evenness of tone, not speed.
Gentle
Scherzo BB 79,5
Béla Bartók
55/100 +4 pts 5-10 weeks
close skills low risk to confirm
A short step up, staying in Intermediate (around grade 6 ABRSM/RCM). 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.
Balanced step

A genuine step up, without a jolt.

Balanced
7. Variante della precedente (concert version)
Béla Bartók
62/100 +11 pts 12-24 weeks
partial transfer moderate risk to confirm
A real step up, staying in Intermediate (around grade 7 ABRSM/RCM). The demand here is musical rather than mechanical: Style romantique — the notes are not enough: articulation and ornaments follow performance conventions best checked in an urtext edition.
Balanced
3 Burlesques, op. 8c, BB55, Sz.47
Béla Bartók
60/100 +9 pts 12-24 weeks
partial transfer moderate risk to confirm
A real step up, staying in Intermediate (around grade 6 ABRSM/RCM). New compared with the previous piece: Style moderne et contemporain and Trilles — the notes are not enough: articulation and ornaments follow performance conventions best checked in an urtext edition.
Balanced
Hungarian Rhapsody no. 3
Franz Liszt
64/100 +13 pts 12-24 weeks
close skills moderate risk to confirm
A real step up, staying in Intermediate (around grade 7 ABRSM/RCM). 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.
Ambitious challenge

A useful leap with guided practice.

Challenge
Ballade No.1 in G minor Op.23
Frédéric Chopin
71/100 +20 pts 28-56 weeks
close skills high risk to confirm
An ambitious leap into Advanced (around grade 7 ABRSM/RCM) — only worth starting if the practice time is really there. New compared with the previous piece: Connaissance des formes and Octaves — understand the form and the harmony before memorising, or memory collapses the moment you play for someone.
Challenge
3. Allegro (concert version)
Béla Bartók
67/100 +16 pts 24-48 weeks
close skills high risk to confirm
An ambitious leap into Advanced (around grade 7 ABRSM/RCM) — only worth starting if the practice time is really there. 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.
Challenge
5. Allegro moderato (concert version)
Béla Bartók
67/100 +16 pts 24-48 weeks
close skills high risk to confirm
An ambitious leap into Advanced (around grade 7 ABRSM/RCM) — only worth starting if the practice time is really there. 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.
Same level

To widen the repertoire without raising the level.

Same level
2. Allegro
Béla Bartók
51/100 same level 4-6 weeks
close skills low risk to confirm
Next piece in the same collection, Intermediate (around grade 6 ABRSM/RCM): the order its editor chose, a progression already tested. 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.
Same level
Nocturne in E-flat major Op.9 No.2
Frédéric Chopin
51/100 same level 4-6 weeks
new reflexes low risk to confirm
Equivalent demands, still Intermediate (around grade 6 ABRSM/RCM): what changes is the ground. What changes is the skill in play: Ornements romantiques and Voix chantante — ornaments must be secure before the piece goes up to tempo, otherwise they break the line instead of decorating it.
Same level
Clashing Sounds
Béla Bartók
48/100 -3 pts 3-4 weeks
partial transfer low risk to confirm
Equivalent demands, still Intermediate (around grade 5 ABRSM/RCM): what changes is the ground. What changes is the skill in play: Rythme général — the pitfall is the pulse drifting as soon as the writing thickens: subdivide with the metronome.
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.