Repertoire › Parallel Motion › What to play next
What to play after Parallel Motion ?
Béla Bartók · difficulty 17/100

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
March from the Notebook of W.F. Bach BWV Anh.122
Johann Sebastian Bach
23/100 +6 pts 2-4 weeks
partial transfer low risk to confirm
A short step up, staying in Beginner (around grade 2 ABRSM/RCM). The skill that will carry the work: Rythme général — the pitfall is the pulse drifting as soon as the writing thickens: subdivide with the metronome.
Gentle
Bear Dance from For Children Vol.1
Béla Bartók
23/100 +6 pts 2-4 weeks
close skills low risk to confirm
A short step up, staying in Beginner (around grade 2 ABRSM/RCM). The skill that will carry the work: Rythme général — the pitfall is the pulse drifting as soon as the writing thickens: subdivide with the metronome.
Gentle
Peasant Dance from For Children Vol.1
Béla Bartók
23/100 +6 pts 2-4 weeks
close skills low risk to confirm
A short step up, staying in Beginner (around grade 2 ABRSM/RCM). The skill that will carry the work: Rythme général — the pitfall is the pulse drifting as soon as the writing thickens: subdivide with the metronome.
Gentle
9 Pieces from "50 Pieces for Beginners" op. 38
Johann Wilhelm Hässler
20/100 +3 pts 2-4 weeks
partial transfer low risk to confirm
A short step up, staying in Beginner (around grade 2 ABRSM/RCM). New compared with the previous piece: Lecture à vue — keep it up with daily reading of easy pieces rather than grinding one passage.
Gentle
Minuet K 5
Mozart
20/100 +3 pts 2-4 weeks
partial transfer low risk to confirm
A short step up, staying in Beginner (around grade 2 ABRSM/RCM). New compared with the previous piece: Lecture clé de fa — reading the score is itself an obstacle before technique: budget time for plain reading.
Balanced step

A genuine step up, without a jolt.

Balanced
Melody from For Children Vol.1 No.8
Béla Bartók
27/100 +10 pts 4-8 weeks
close skills moderate risk to confirm
A real step up: this piece moves you into Elementary (around grade 3 ABRSM/RCM). The skill that will carry the work: Rythme général — the pitfall is the pulse drifting as soon as the writing thickens: subdivide with the metronome.
Balanced
Sash Dance BB 68,2
Béla Bartók
30/100 +13 pts 4-8 weeks
partial transfer moderate risk to confirm
A real step up: this piece moves you into Elementary (around grade 3 ABRSM/RCM). The skill that will carry the work: Rythme général — the pitfall is the pulse drifting as soon as the writing thickens: subdivide with the metronome.
Balanced
How Now
Philip Glass
30/100 +13 pts 6-12 weeks
partial transfer moderate risk to confirm
A real step up: this piece moves you into Elementary (around grade 3 ABRSM/RCM). The skill that will carry the work: Rythme général — the pitfall is the pulse drifting as soon as the writing thickens: subdivide with the metronome.
Balanced
Piano Pieces for Children
Toru Takemitsu
30/100 +13 pts 6-12 weeks
partial transfer moderate risk to confirm
A real step up: this piece moves you into Elementary (around grade 3 ABRSM/RCM). New compared with the previous piece: Staccato — 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
Invention No.4 in D minor BWV 775
Johann Sebastian Bach
33/100 +16 pts 12-24 weeks
new reflexes high risk to confirm
An ambitious leap into Elementary (around grade 4 ABRSM/RCM) — only worth starting if the practice time is really there. New compared with the previous piece: Polyphonie à deux voix and Style baroque — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.
Challenge
Melody with Interruptions
Béla Bartók
33/100 +16 pts 12-24 weeks
new reflexes high risk to confirm
An ambitious leap into Elementary (around grade 4 ABRSM/RCM) — only worth starting if the practice time is really there. New compared with the previous piece: Contrôle du toucher — what matters is quality of attack and evenness of tone, not speed.
Challenge
Stumblings
Béla Bartók
33/100 +16 pts 12-24 weeks
new reflexes high risk to confirm
An ambitious leap into Elementary (around grade 4 ABRSM/RCM) — only worth starting if the practice time is really there. New compared with the previous piece: Caractère et style — the notes are not enough: articulation and ornaments follow performance conventions best checked in an urtext edition.
Same level

To widen the repertoire without raising the level.

Same level
Minuet in G major K.1e
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
17/100 same level 1-2 weeks
new reflexes low risk to confirm
Equivalent demands, still Beginner (around grade 2 ABRSM/RCM): what changes is the ground. What changes is the skill in play: Lecture à vue — keep it up with daily reading of easy pieces rather than grinding one passage.
Same level
Reflection
Béla Bartók
17/100 same level 1-2 weeks
new reflexes low risk to confirm
Next piece in the same collection, Beginner (around grade 2 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.
Same level
Dotted Notes
Béla Bartók
16/100 -1 pts 1-2 weeks
partial transfer low risk to confirm
Equivalent demands, still Beginner (around grade 1 ABRSM/RCM): what changes is the ground. What changes is the skill in play: Rythmes pointés and Style moderne et contemporain — 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.