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What to play after Dumka ?
Frédéric Chopin · difficulty 5/100

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
Gyermektancok
Zoltán Kodály
10/100 +5 pts 2-4 weeks
new reflexes low risk to confirm
A short step up, staying in Beginner (around grade 1 ABRSM/RCM). New compared with the previous piece: Style moderne et contemporain — the notes are not enough: articulation and ornaments follow performance conventions best checked in an urtext edition.
Gentle
In the Name of the Holocaust
John Cage
10/100 +5 pts 2-4 weeks
new reflexes low risk to confirm
A short step up, staying in Beginner (around grade 1 ABRSM/RCM). New compared with the previous piece: Lecture à vue — keep it up with daily reading of easy pieces rather than grinding one passage.
Gentle
Village Song
Béla Bartók
11/100 +6 pts 2-4 weeks
new reflexes low risk to confirm
A short step up, staying in Beginner (around grade 1 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
Parallel Motion and Change of Position
Béla Bartók
12/100 +7 pts 2-4 weeks
new reflexes low risk to confirm
A short step up, staying in Beginner (around grade 1 ABRSM/RCM). New compared with the previous piece: Demi-pédale and Croisements de mains — the pedal is set by ear, note by note: misjudged, it blurs the harmony instead of joining it.
Gentle
Czerny Étude Op.599 No.1
Carl Czerny
12/100 +7 pts 2-4 weeks
new reflexes low risk to confirm
A short step up, staying in Beginner (around grade 1 ABRSM/RCM). New compared with the previous piece: Staccato — 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
March in D major HWV 437
George Frideric Handel
16/100 +11 pts 4-8 weeks
new reflexes moderate risk to confirm
A real step up, staying in Beginner (around grade 1 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
Minuet in G major K.1e
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
17/100 +12 pts 4-8 weeks
new reflexes moderate risk to confirm
A real step up, staying in Beginner (around grade 2 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.
Ambitious challenge

A useful leap with guided practice.

Challenge
Prélude no. 1 in C major, op. 28
Frédéric Chopin
22/100 +17 pts 8-16 weeks
new reflexes high risk to confirm
An ambitious leap while staying in Beginner (around grade 2 ABRSM/RCM) — only worth starting if the practice time is really there. New compared with the previous piece: Ornements baroque and Indépendance des mains — ornaments must be secure before the piece goes up to tempo, otherwise they break the line instead of decorating it.
Challenge
Praeambulum in F major, BWV.927
Johann Sebastian Bach
24/100 +19 pts 8-16 weeks
new reflexes high risk to confirm
An ambitious leap while staying in Beginner (around grade 3 ABRSM/RCM) — only worth starting if the practice time is really there. New compared with the previous piece: Style baroque and Ornements baroque — the notes are not enough: articulation and ornaments follow performance conventions best checked in an urtext edition.
Challenge
Sonatina in C major Op.36 No.1
Muzio Clementi
21/100 +16 pts 8-16 weeks
new reflexes high risk to confirm
An ambitious leap while staying in Beginner (around grade 2 ABRSM/RCM) — only worth starting if the practice time is really there. New compared with the previous piece: Style classique and Connaissance des formes — the notes are not enough: articulation and ornaments follow performance conventions best checked in an urtext edition.
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.