Que jouer après Jesu, meine Freude (BWV 227) ?

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

Fuga

Girolamo Frescobaldi

70/100 +5 pts 7-14 weeks

close skills low risk to confirm

A short step up, staying in Advanced (around grade 7 ABRSM/RCM). The skill that will carry the work: Polyphonie à trois voix ou plus and Analyse harmonique — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.

Gentle

Fugue no. 2 en Do Mineur, BWV.871

Johann Sebastian Bach

70/100 +5 pts 7-14 weeks

close skills low risk to confirm

A short step up, staying in Advanced (around grade 7 ABRSM/RCM). New compared with the previous piece: Indépendance des mains and Analyse harmonique — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.

Gentle

Fugue no. 13 en Fa Dièse Majeur, BWV.882

Johann Sebastian Bach

71/100 +6 pts 7-14 weeks

close skills low risk to confirm

Gentle

Sonata in B flat major, K.442, L.319

Domenico Scarlatti

69/100 +4 pts 6-12 weeks

close skills low risk to confirm

A short step up, staying in Advanced (around grade 7 ABRSM/RCM). New compared with the previous piece: Connaissance des formes and Passages rapides — understand the form and the harmony before memorising, or memory collapses the moment you play for someone.

Gentle

Il secondo libro de toccate, canzone...di cimbalo et organo

Girolamo Frescobaldi

68/100 +3 pts 6-12 weeks

close skills low risk to confirm

A short step up, staying in Advanced (around grade 7 ABRSM/RCM). The skill that will carry the work: Style baroque and Ornements baroque — 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

Fantasia and Fugue in A minor, BWV.904

Johann Sebastian Bach

75/100 +10 pts 14-28 weeks

close skills moderate risk to confirm

A real step up, staying in Advanced (around grade 8 ABRSM/RCM). New compared with the previous piece: Trilles and Analyse harmonique — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.

Balanced

Chaconne, for two harpsichords,

Jean-Philippe Rameau

74/100 +9 pts 14-28 weeks

close skills moderate risk to confirm

A real step up, staying in Advanced (around grade 8 ABRSM/RCM). The skill that will carry the work: Style baroque and Ornements baroque — the notes are not enough: articulation and ornaments follow performance conventions best checked in an urtext edition.

Balanced

Fugue no. 23 en Si Majeur, BWV.892

Johann Sebastian Bach

73/100 +8 pts 14-28 weeks

close skills moderate risk to confirm

A real step up, staying in Advanced (around grade 8 ABRSM/RCM). New compared with the previous piece: Indépendance des mains and Analyse harmonique — 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

Sonata Op.57 (Appassionata)

Ludwig van Beethoven

81/100 +16 pts 32-64 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: Trilles and Connaissance des formes — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.

Challenge

Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue in D minor, BWV.903

Johann Sebastian Bach

80/100 +15 pts 32-64 weeks

close skills 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. New compared with the previous piece: Croisements de mains and Analyse harmonique — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.

Challenge

Goldberg Variations, BWV.988

Johann Sebastian Bach

87/100 +22 pts 32-64 weeks

close skills 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: Croisements de mains and Connaissance des formes — 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

Toccata and fugue in D minor, BWV.565

Johann Sebastian Bach

65/100 same level 4-7 weeks

close skills 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 and Analyse harmonique — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.

Same level

French Suite no. 5 in G major, BWV.816

Johann Sebastian Bach

66/100 +1 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: Connaissance des formes and Polyphonie à deux voix — understand the form and the harmony before memorising, or memory collapses the moment you play for someone.

Same level

Sonata in A minor, K.54, L.241

Domenico Scarlatti

63/100 -2 pts 4-7 weeks

partial transfer low risk to confirm

Equivalent demands, right at the edge of Intermediate (around grade 7 ABRSM/RCM): different ground, same level. What changes is the skill in play: Connaissance des formes and Style baroque — understand the form and the harmony before memorising, or memory collapses the moment you play for someone.

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.