Que jouer après Polonaise Op. 40 No. 1 in A major ?

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

Rhapsody in G minor Op.79 No.2

Johannes Brahms

77/100 +5 pts 7-14 weeks

partial transfer low risk to confirm

A short step up, staying in Advanced (around grade 8 ABRSM/RCM). The skill that will carry the work: Passages rapides — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.

Gentle

Polonaise, Op. 26, No. 2 in E-flat minor

Frédéric Chopin

76/100 +4 pts 7-14 weeks

close skills low risk to confirm

A short step up, staying in Advanced (around grade 8 ABRSM/RCM). New compared with the previous piece: Rythmes pointés and Passages rapides — the pitfall is the pulse drifting as soon as the writing thickens: subdivide with the metronome.

Gentle

Polonaise in C minor, Op. 40, No. 2

Frédéric Chopin

78/100 +6 pts 7-14 weeks

close skills low risk to confirm

Gentle

Rhapsodies, Op. 79

Johannes Brahms

78/100 +6 pts 7-14 weeks

close skills low risk to confirm

Gentle

Ballade no. 2 in B minor, S.171, R.16

Franz Liszt

78/100 +6 pts 7-14 weeks

close skills low risk to confirm

A short step up, staying in Advanced (around grade 8 ABRSM/RCM). The skill that will carry the work: Octaves — 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

Polonaise-fantaisie in A flat major, op. 61

Frédéric Chopin

83/100 +11 pts 16-32 weeks

partial transfer moderate risk to confirm

A real step up: this piece moves you into Great repertoire (diploma level, beyond grade 8). New compared with the previous piece: Ornements romantiques and Analyse harmonique — ornaments must be secure before the piece goes up to tempo, otherwise they break the line instead of decorating it.

Balanced

Polonaise no. 6 in A flat major, op. 53, "Heroic"

Frédéric Chopin

84/100 +12 pts 16-32 weeks

close skills moderate risk fair confidence

A real step up: this piece moves you into Great repertoire (diploma level, beyond grade 8). New compared with the previous piece: Rythmes pointés and Passages rapides — the pitfall is the pulse drifting as soon as the writing thickens: subdivide with the metronome.

Balanced

Première Rhapsodie, for piano

Claude Debussy

82/100 +10 pts 16-32 weeks

close skills moderate risk to confirm

A real step up: this piece moves you into Great repertoire (diploma level, beyond grade 8). The skill that will carry the work: Passages rapides — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.

Balanced

Scherzo D 593 No. 1

Franz Schubert

80/100 +8 pts 16-32 weeks

close skills moderate risk to confirm

A real step up: this piece moves you into Great repertoire (diploma level, beyond grade 8). 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.

Ambitious challenge

A useful leap with guided practice.

Challenge

Hungarian Rhapsody no. 12

Franz Liszt

92/100 +20 pts 36-72 weeks

new reflexes high risk to confirm

An ambitious leap into Great repertoire (diploma level, beyond grade 8) — only worth starting if the practice time is really there. New compared with the previous piece: Ornements romantiques and Doubles notes — ornaments must be secure before the piece goes up to tempo, otherwise they break the line instead of decorating it.

Challenge

Variations on a Waltz by Diabelli, op. 120

Ludwig van Beethoven

88/100 +16 pts 32-64 weeks

partial transfer high risk to confirm

An ambitious leap into Great repertoire (diploma level, beyond grade 8) — only worth starting if the practice time is really there. New compared with the previous piece: Connaissance des formes — understand the form and the harmony before memorising, or memory collapses the moment you play for someone.

Challenge

Hungarian Rhapsody no. 2

Franz Liszt

87/100 +15 pts 32-64 weeks

partial transfer moderate risk to confirm

An ambitious leap into Great repertoire (diploma level, beyond grade 8) — only worth starting if the practice time is really there. The skill that will carry the work: Passages rapides — 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

Scherzo No.2 in B-flat minor Op.31

Frédéric Chopin

73/100 +1 pts 5-8 weeks

partial transfer low risk to confirm

Equivalent demands, still Advanced (around grade 8 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

Ballade No.1 in G minor Op.23

Frédéric Chopin

71/100 -1 pts 5-8 weeks

partial transfer low risk to confirm

Equivalent demands, still Advanced (around grade 7 ABRSM/RCM): what changes is the ground. What changes is the skill in play: Connaissance des formes and Octaves — understand the form and the harmony before memorising, or memory collapses the moment you play for someone.

Same level

Valse-Scherzo op. 34

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

69/100 -3 pts 4-7 weeks

partial transfer low risk to confirm

Equivalent demands, still Advanced (around grade 7 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.

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.