Repertoire › Wandering through the Keys › What to play next
What to play after Wandering through the Keys ?
Béla Bartók · difficulty 36/100

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 Little Shepherd
Claude Debussy
41/100 +5 pts 4-8 weeks
partial transfer low risk to confirm
A short step up, staying in Elementary (around grade 5 ABRSM/RCM). The skill that will carry the work: Style impressionniste — the notes are not enough: articulation and ornaments follow performance conventions best checked in an urtext edition.
Gentle
Piano Sonata D major Hob. XVII:D1
Franz Joseph Haydn
41/100 +5 pts 4-8 weeks
partial transfer low risk to confirm
A short 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.
Gentle
Variations on a Folk Tune
Béla Bartók
42/100 +6 pts 4-8 weeks
partial transfer low risk to confirm
A short 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.
Gentle
From the Island of Bali
Béla Bartók
42/100 +7 pts 4-8 weeks
partial transfer low risk to confirm
A short 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.
Gentle
Prélude from “La Damoiselle élue”
Claude Debussy
42/100 +7 pts 4-8 weeks
partial transfer low risk to confirm
A short step up, staying in Elementary (around grade 5 ABRSM/RCM). The skill that will carry the work: Style impressionniste — 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
Crossed Hands
Béla Bartók
46/100 +10 pts 8-16 weeks
partial transfer moderate risk to confirm
A real step up: this piece moves you into Intermediate (around grade 5 ABRSM/RCM). New compared with the previous piece: Croisements de mains — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.
Balanced
Chromatic Invention (2)
Béla Bartók
46/100 +10 pts 8-16 weeks
partial transfer moderate risk to confirm
A real step up: this piece moves you into Intermediate (around grade 5 ABRSM/RCM). New compared with the previous piece: Polyphonie à trois voix ou plus — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.
Balanced
Jimbo's Lullaby
Claude Debussy
48/100 +13 pts 8-16 weeks
partial transfer moderate risk to confirm
A real step up: this piece moves you into Intermediate (around grade 5 ABRSM/RCM). The skill that will carry the work: Style impressionniste — the notes are not enough: articulation and ornaments follow performance conventions best checked in an urtext edition.
Balanced
D'un cahier d'esquisses, L.99
Claude Debussy
44/100 +8 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: Style impressionniste — 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. Allegro
Béla Bartók
51/100 +15 pts 20-40 weeks
partial transfer high risk to confirm
An ambitious leap into Intermediate (around grade 6 ABRSM/RCM) — only worth starting if the practice time is really there. New compared with the previous piece: Passages rapides — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.
Challenge
1. Allegro
Béla Bartók
51/100 +15 pts 20-40 weeks
new reflexes high risk to confirm
An ambitious leap into Intermediate (around grade 6 ABRSM/RCM) — only worth starting if the practice time is really there. New compared with the previous piece: Passages rapides — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.
Challenge
Nocturne in E-flat major Op.9 No.2
Frédéric Chopin
51/100 +15 pts 20-40 weeks
new reflexes moderate risk to confirm
An ambitious leap into Intermediate (around grade 6 ABRSM/RCM) — only worth starting if the practice time is really there. New compared with the previous piece: Ornements romantiques and Voix chantante — ornaments must be secure before the piece goes up to tempo, otherwise they break the line instead of decorating it.
Same level

To widen the repertoire without raising the level.

Same level
Playsong (with two pentatonic scales)
Béla Bartók
35/100 -1 pts 2-3 weeks
new reflexes low risk to confirm
Next piece in the same collection, Elementary (around grade 4 ABRSM/RCM): the order its editor chose, a progression already tested. 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
Fugue in C major, BWV.953
Johann Sebastian Bach
35/100 -1 pts 2-3 weeks
new reflexes low risk to confirm
Equivalent demands, still Elementary (around grade 4 ABRSM/RCM): what changes is the ground. What changes is the skill in play: Analyse harmonique and Polyphonie à trois voix ou plus — understand the form and the harmony before memorising, or memory collapses the moment you play for someone.
Same level
Melody with Interruptions
Béla Bartók
33/100 -3 pts 2-3 weeks
partial transfer low risk to confirm
Equivalent demands, still Elementary (around grade 4 ABRSM/RCM): what changes is the ground. The skill that will carry the work: Contrôle du toucher — what matters is quality of attack and evenness of tone, not speed.
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.