Repertoire › Contrary Motion (2) › What to play next
What to play after Contrary Motion (2) ?
Béla Bartók · difficulty 22/100

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
Thumb Under
Béla Bartók
27/100 +5 pts 2-4 weeks
partial transfer low risk to confirm
A short step up — but it is the one that moves you into Elementary (around grade 3 ABRSM/RCM). The skill that will carry the work: Doigté complexe — settle and write the fingering in at first reading: changing it later costs weeks.
Gentle
Sonatina in G major Op.36 No.2
Muzio Clementi
27/100 +5 pts 2-4 weeks
new reflexes low risk to confirm
A short step up — but it is the one that moves you into Elementary (around grade 3 ABRSM/RCM). New compared with the previous piece: Style classique and Connaissance des formes — the notes are not enough: articulation and ornaments follow performance conventions best checked in an urtext edition.
Gentle
Méditation
Béla Bartók
26/100 +3 pts 2-4 weeks
new reflexes low risk to confirm
Next piece in the same collection, Elementary (around grade 3 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.
Gentle
Sonatina in C major Op.36 No.3
Muzio Clementi
29/100 +7 pts 2-4 weeks
new reflexes low risk to confirm
A short step up — but it is the one that moves you into Elementary (around grade 3 ABRSM/RCM). New compared with the previous piece: Style classique and Connaissance des formes — the notes are not enough: articulation and ornaments follow performance conventions best checked in an urtext edition.
Gentle
German Dance D.139 No.1
Franz Schubert
25/100 +3 pts 2-4 weeks
partial transfer low risk to confirm
A short step up — but it is the one that moves you into Elementary (around grade 3 ABRSM/RCM). The skill that will carry the work: Indépendance des mains — 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
Invention No.4 in D minor BWV 775
Johann Sebastian Bach
33/100 +11 pts 6-12 weeks
partial transfer moderate risk to confirm
A real step up: this piece moves you into Elementary (around grade 4 ABRSM/RCM). 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.
Balanced
Invention No.8 in F major BWV 779
Johann Sebastian Bach
35/100 +13 pts 6-12 weeks
partial transfer moderate risk to confirm
A real step up: this piece moves you into Elementary (around grade 4 ABRSM/RCM). New compared with the previous piece: Style baroque and Polyphonie à deux voix — the notes are not enough: articulation and ornaments follow performance conventions best checked in an urtext edition.
Balanced
No.75 — Triplets
Béla Bartók
31/100 +9 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: Rythmes pointés and Indépendance des mains — the pitfall is the pulse drifting as soon as the writing thickens: subdivide with the metronome.
Balanced
No.96 — Stumblings
Béla Bartók
36/100 +14 pts 6-12 weeks
partial transfer moderate risk to confirm
A real step up: this piece moves you into Elementary (around grade 4 ABRSM/RCM). New compared with the previous piece: Rythmes pointés and Indépendance des mains — the pitfall is the pulse drifting as soon as the writing thickens: subdivide with the metronome.
Ambitious challenge

A useful leap with guided practice.

Challenge
Invention No.13 in A minor BWV 784
Johann Sebastian Bach
40/100 +18 pts 16-32 weeks
partial transfer high risk to confirm
An ambitious leap into Elementary (around grade 5 ABRSM/RCM) — only worth starting if the practice time is really there. New compared with the previous piece: Style baroque and Polyphonie à deux voix — the notes are not enough: articulation and ornaments follow performance conventions best checked in an urtext edition.
Challenge
6. Andante
Béla Bartók
40/100 +18 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. 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
Dance of Buchum BB 68,4
Béla Bartók
37/100 +15 pts 12-24 weeks
new reflexes moderate 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: Rythme général — the pitfall is the pulse drifting as soon as the writing thickens: subdivide with the metronome.
Same level

To widen the repertoire without raising the level.

Same level
Sonatina in C major Op.36 No.1
Muzio Clementi
21/100 -1 pts 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: Style classique and Connaissance des formes — the notes are not enough: articulation and ornaments follow performance conventions best checked in an urtext edition.
Same level
In Lydian Mode
Béla Bartók
24/100 +2 pts 1-2 weeks
partial transfer low risk to confirm
Equivalent demands, still Beginner (around grade 2 ABRSM/RCM): what changes is the ground. The skill that will carry the work: Indépendance des mains — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.
Same level
No.13 — Change of Position
Béla Bartók
19/100 -3 pts 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: Staccato and Rythmes pointés — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.
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.