Repertoire › Studies in Double Notes › What to play next
What to play after Studies in Double Notes ?
Béla Bartók · difficulty 42/100

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
Czerny Étude Op.299 No.30
Carl Czerny
48/100 +6 pts 4-8 weeks
partial transfer low risk to confirm
A short step up — but it is the one that moves you into Intermediate (around grade 5 ABRSM/RCM). 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.
Gentle
Au jardin, étude-idylle in D flat major
Mily Balakirev
48/100 +6 pts 4-8 weeks
new reflexes low risk to confirm
A short step up — but it is the one that moves you into Intermediate (around grade 5 ABRSM/RCM). 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.
Gentle
Intermezzo in A major from Mikrokosmos Vol.4 No.118
Béla Bartók
46/100 +4 pts 4-8 weeks
new reflexes low risk to confirm
A short step up — but it is the one that moves you into Intermediate (around grade 5 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.
Gentle
Divided Arpeggios
Béla Bartók
48/100 +6 pts 4-8 weeks
partial transfer low risk to confirm
A short step up — but it is the one that moves you into Intermediate (around grade 5 ABRSM/RCM). New compared with the previous piece: Demi-pédale — the pedal is set by ear, note by note: misjudged, it blurs the harmony instead of joining it.
Gentle
Etude in C sharp minor, op. 2 no. 1
Alexander Scriabin
45/100 +3 pts 4-8 weeks
new reflexes low risk to confirm
A short step up — but it is the one that moves you into Intermediate (around grade 5 ABRSM/RCM). 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.
Balanced step

A genuine step up, without a jolt.

Balanced
Etude op. 40,1
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
52/100 +10 pts 10-20 weeks
partial transfer moderate risk to confirm
A real step up: this piece moves you into Intermediate (around grade 6 ABRSM/RCM). The skill that will carry the work: Technique générale — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.
Balanced
Perpetuum mobile
Béla Bartók
52/100 +10 pts 10-20 weeks
new reflexes moderate risk to confirm
Next piece in the same collection, Intermediate (around grade 6 ABRSM/RCM): the order its editor chose, a progression already tested. 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.
Balanced
Six Bulgarian Dances No.1 from Mikrokosmos Vol.6
Béla Bartók
51/100 +9 pts 10-20 weeks
new reflexes moderate risk to confirm
A real step up: this piece moves you into Intermediate (around grade 6 ABRSM/RCM). New compared with the previous piece: Rythme général — the pitfall is the pulse drifting as soon as the writing thickens: subdivide with the metronome.
Balanced
Exercise Piece C major
Clara Wieck-Schumann
56/100 +13 pts 10-20 weeks
close skills moderate risk to confirm
A real step up: this piece moves you into Intermediate (around grade 6 ABRSM/RCM). The skill that will carry the work: Technique générale — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.
Ambitious challenge

A useful leap with guided practice.

Challenge
Czerny Étude Op.299 No.20
Carl Czerny
59/100 +17 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: Gammes et arpèges — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.
Challenge
No.135 — Perpetuum mobile
Béla Bartók
59/100 +17 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
Etude F sharp major op. 42 no. 3
Alexander Scriabin
58/100 +16 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: Ornements romantiques — 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
Toccata from Mikrokosmos Vol.4 No.115
Béla Bartók
42/100 same level 3-4 weeks
new reflexes low risk to confirm
Equivalent demands, still Elementary (around grade 5 ABRSM/RCM): what changes is the ground. What changes is the skill in play: Staccato — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.
Same level
Bear Dance from Mikrokosmos Vol.2 No.10
Béla Bartók
43/100 +1 pts 3-4 weeks
partial transfer low risk to confirm
Equivalent demands, still Elementary (around grade 5 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
Hanon Exercice No.60 (Arpeggios)
Charles-Louis Hanon
40/100 -2 pts 2-3 weeks
partial transfer 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: 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.