Repertoire › Imitation and Inversion (2) › What to play next
What to play after Imitation and Inversion (2) ?
Béla Bartók · difficulty 13/100

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
The New Doll Op.39 No.9
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
18/100 +5 pts 2-4 weeks
close skills low risk to confirm
A short step up, staying in Beginner (around grade 2 ABRSM/RCM). The demand here is musical rather than mechanical: Legato — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.
Gentle
Piano Sonata (Wunderkind) C major K. 6
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
19/100 +5 pts 2-4 weeks
close skills low risk to confirm
A short step up, staying in Beginner (around grade 2 ABRSM/RCM). The demand here is musical rather than mechanical: Legato — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.
Gentle
Repetition (2)
Béla Bartók
19/100 +6 pts 2-4 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. New compared with the previous piece: Rythme général — the pitfall is the pulse drifting as soon as the writing thickens: subdivide with the metronome.
Gentle
Canon with Sustained Notes
Béla Bartók
19/100 +6 pts 2-4 weeks
close skills low risk to confirm
A short step up, staying in Beginner (around grade 2 ABRSM/RCM). New compared with the previous piece: Polyphonie à deux voix — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.
Gentle
Ecossaise in G WoO.23
Ludwig van Beethoven
17/100 +4 pts 2-4 weeks
close skills low risk to confirm
A short step up, staying in Beginner (around grade 2 ABRSM/RCM). The demand here is musical rather than mechanical: Nuances — 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
Minuet in G major WoO.10 No.2
Ludwig van Beethoven
25/100 +11 pts 4-8 weeks
close skills moderate risk to confirm
A real step up, staying in Beginner (around grade 3 ABRSM/RCM). The demand here is musical rather than mechanical: Legato — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.
Balanced
A Quaker Reader, 11 pieces for organ
Ned Rorem
25/100 +12 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 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
Melody with Accompaniment
Béla Bartók
24/100 +10 pts 4-8 weeks
close skills moderate risk to confirm
A real step up, staying in Beginner (around grade 2 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
Minuetto
Béla Bartók
22/100 +9 pts 4-8 weeks
close skills moderate risk to confirm
A real step up, staying in Beginner (around grade 2 ABRSM/RCM). 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.
Ambitious challenge

A useful leap with guided practice.

Challenge
2-Part Inventions, BWV.772-786
Johann Sebastian Bach
32/100 +18 pts 12-24 weeks
new reflexes high risk to confirm
An ambitious leap into Elementary (around grade 3 ABRSM/RCM) — only worth starting if the practice time is really there. New compared with the previous piece: Style baroque and Ornements baroque — the notes are not enough: articulation and ornaments follow performance conventions best checked in an urtext edition.
Challenge
In the Style of a Folksong
Béla Bartók
31/100 +17 pts 12-24 weeks
new reflexes high risk to confirm
An ambitious leap into Elementary (around grade 3 ABRSM/RCM) — only worth starting if the practice time is really there. New compared with the previous piece: Gammes et arpèges — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.
Challenge
Diminished Fifths
Béla Bartók
29/100 +15 pts 8-16 weeks
new reflexes moderate risk to confirm
An ambitious leap into Elementary (around grade 3 ABRSM/RCM) — only worth starting if the practice time is really there. New compared with the previous piece: Staccato — 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
Chorale
Béla Bartók
14/100 +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: Polyphonie à deux voix — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.
Same level
Minuet in F major K.2
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
13/100 -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: Rythme général — the pitfall is the pulse drifting as soon as the writing thickens: subdivide with the metronome.
Same level
In Yugoslav Style
Béla Bartók
16/100 +3 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: Caractère et style — the notes are not enough: articulation and ornaments follow performance conventions best checked in an urtext edition.
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.