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What to play after Hungarian Song ?
Béla Bartók · difficulty 26/100

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
Piano Sonata (Wunderkind) G major K. 9
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
31/100 +6 pts 3-6 weeks
close skills low risk to confirm
A short step up, staying in 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.
Gentle
Little Prelude BWV 942
Johann Sebastian Bach
30/100 +4 pts 2-4 weeks
close skills low risk to confirm
A short step up, staying in 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.
Gentle
Dance in 3/4 Time
Béla Bartók
32/100 +6 pts 3-6 weeks
close skills low risk to confirm
A short step up, staying in Elementary (around grade 3 ABRSM/RCM). The skill that will carry the work: Style classique — the notes are not enough: articulation and ornaments follow performance conventions best checked in an urtext edition.
Gentle
Song of the Fox
Béla Bartók
29/100 +3 pts 2-4 weeks
close skills low risk to confirm
A short step up, staying in 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.
Gentle
Duet for Pipes
Béla Bartók
29/100 +3 pts 2-4 weeks
close skills low risk to confirm
A short step up, staying in Elementary (around grade 3 ABRSM/RCM). The skill that will carry the work: Style classique — the notes are not enough: articulation and ornaments follow performance conventions best checked in an urtext edition.
Balanced step

A genuine step up, without a jolt.

Balanced
Tale
Béla Bartók
37/100 +11 pts 6-12 weeks
close skills moderate risk to confirm
A real step up, staying in Elementary (around grade 4 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
Prelude in E minor Op.28 No.4
Frédéric Chopin
35/100 +10 pts 6-12 weeks
close skills moderate risk to confirm
A real step up, staying in Elementary (around grade 4 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
New Hungarian Folk Song
Béla Bartók
34/100 +8 pts 6-12 weeks
close skills moderate risk to confirm
A real step up, staying in Elementary (around grade 4 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.
Ambitious challenge

A useful leap with guided practice.

Challenge
Piano Sonata G major K. 283 (189h)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
44/100 +19 pts 16-32 weeks
partial transfer high risk to confirm
An ambitious leap while staying in Elementary (around grade 5 ABRSM/RCM) — only worth starting if the practice time is really there. 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.
Challenge
Bourée
Béla Bartók
41/100 +16 pts 16-32 weeks
new reflexes high risk to confirm
An ambitious leap while staying in Elementary (around grade 5 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.
Challenge
Staccato
Béla Bartók
41/100 +16 pts 16-32 weeks
new reflexes high risk to confirm
An ambitious leap while staying in Elementary (around grade 5 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
No.51 — Waves
Béla Bartók
25/100 -1 pts 1-2 weeks
new reflexes low risk to confirm
Equivalent demands, right at the edge of Beginner (around grade 3 ABRSM/RCM): different ground, same level. What changes is the skill in play: Staccato and Lecture avec altérations accidentelles — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.
Same level
Praeambulum in F major, BWV.927
Johann Sebastian Bach
24/100 -1 pts 1-2 weeks
partial transfer low risk to confirm
Equivalent demands, right at the edge of Beginner (around grade 3 ABRSM/RCM): different ground, same level. What changes is the skill in play: Style baroque and Ornements baroque — the notes are not enough: articulation and ornaments follow performance conventions best checked in an urtext edition.
Same level
Triplets
Béla Bartók
24/100 -2 pts 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. What changes is the skill in play: Passages rapides — 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.