Repertoire › Variations › What to play next
What to play after Variations ?
Béla Bartók · difficulty 32/100

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.

Back to the full work page
Gentle step

The safest next step.

Gentle
Dragons' Dance
Béla Bartók
36/100 +4 pts 3-6 weeks
close skills low risk to confirm
A short step up, staying in Elementary (around grade 4 ABRSM/RCM). New compared with the previous piece: Indépendance des mains — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.
Gentle
Wandering through the Keys
Béla Bartók
36/100 +4 pts 3-6 weeks
partial transfer low risk to confirm
A short step up, staying in Elementary (around grade 4 ABRSM/RCM). New compared with the previous piece: Style impressionniste — the notes are not enough: articulation and ornaments follow performance conventions best checked in an urtext edition.
Gentle
Piano Variations in C Hob. XVII:5
Franz Joseph Haydn
39/100 +7 pts 3-6 weeks
new reflexes low risk to confirm
A short step up, staying in Elementary (around grade 4 ABRSM/RCM). New compared with the previous piece: Connaissance des formes and Style classique — understand the form and the harmony before memorising, or memory collapses the moment you play for someone.
Gentle
Andante in F major
Mozart
35/100 +3 pts 3-6 weeks
partial transfer low risk to confirm
A short step up, staying in Elementary (around grade 4 ABRSM/RCM). The skill that will carry the work: Contrôle du toucher — what matters is quality of attack and evenness of tone, not speed.
Gentle
Musicalische Sterbens-Gedancken, chorale variations
Johann Pachelbel
35/100 +3 pts 3-6 weeks
new reflexes low risk to confirm
A short step up, staying in Elementary (around grade 4 ABRSM/RCM). New compared with the previous piece: Connaissance des formes and Style baroque — understand the form and the harmony before memorising, or memory collapses the moment you play for someone.
Balanced step

A genuine step up, without a jolt.

Balanced
1. Molto moderato
Béla Bartók
43/100 +12 pts 8-16 weeks
partial transfer moderate risk to confirm
A real step up, staying in Elementary (around grade 5 ABRSM/RCM). The skill that will carry the work: Contrôle du toucher — what matters is quality of attack and evenness of tone, not speed.
Balanced
Variations on a Folk Tune
Béla Bartók
42/100 +10 pts 8-16 weeks
close skills moderate risk to confirm
A real step up, staying in Elementary (around grade 5 ABRSM/RCM). The skill that will carry the work: Contrôle du toucher — what matters is quality of attack and evenness of tone, not speed.
Balanced
Piano Sonata D major Hob. XVII:D1
Franz Joseph Haydn
41/100 +9 pts 8-16 weeks
close skills moderate risk to confirm
A real step up, staying in Elementary (around grade 5 ABRSM/RCM). The skill that will carry the work: Contrôle du toucher — what matters is quality of attack and evenness of tone, not speed.
Balanced
Piano Sonata D major Hob. XIV:5
Franz Joseph Haydn
41/100 +9 pts 8-16 weeks
close skills moderate risk to confirm
A real step up, staying in Elementary (around grade 5 ABRSM/RCM). The skill that will carry the work: Contrôle du toucher — what matters is quality of attack and evenness of tone, not speed.
Ambitious challenge

A useful leap with guided practice.

Challenge
Clashing Sounds
Béla Bartók
48/100 +16 pts 16-32 weeks
partial transfer high risk to confirm
An ambitious leap into Intermediate (around grade 5 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.
Challenge
Variations on a March by Dressler, WoO 63
Ludwig van Beethoven
48/100 +16 pts 16-32 weeks
new reflexes high risk to confirm
An ambitious leap into Intermediate (around grade 5 ABRSM/RCM) — only worth starting if the practice time is really there. New compared with the previous piece: Analyse harmonique and Style classique — understand the form and the harmony before memorising, or memory collapses the moment you play for someone.
Challenge
Duet for Pipes
Béla Bartók
29/100 -3 pts 8-16 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. New compared with the previous piece: Style classique — 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
3 Klavierstucke, BB8
Béla Bartók
30/100 -2 pts 2-3 weeks
new reflexes low risk to confirm
Equivalent demands, still Elementary (around grade 3 ABRSM/RCM): what changes is the ground. What changes is the skill in play: Style moderne et contemporain — the notes are not enough: articulation and ornaments follow performance conventions best checked in an urtext edition.
Same level
Bagatelle in A minor WoO.59 (Für Elise)
Ludwig van Beethoven
30/100 -2 pts 1-2 weeks
new reflexes low risk to confirm
Equivalent demands, still Elementary (around grade 3 ABRSM/RCM): what changes is the ground. What changes is the skill in play: Croisements de mains — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.
Same level
Chord Study
Béla Bartók
29/100 -3 pts 1-2 weeks
partial transfer low risk to confirm
Equivalent demands, still Elementary (around grade 3 ABRSM/RCM): what changes is the ground. What changes is the skill in play: Technique générale — 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.