Repertoire › Erstarrung › What to play next
What to play after Erstarrung ?
Franz Schubert · difficulty 32/100

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
30 Minuets with Trios, D.41
Franz Schubert
37/100 +5 pts 3-6 weeks
close skills low risk to confirm
A short step up, staying in Elementary (around grade 4 ABRSM/RCM). The skill that will carry the work: Caractère et style — the notes are not enough: articulation and ornaments follow performance conventions best checked in an urtext edition.
Gentle
Major and Minor
Béla Bartók
36/100 +4 pts 3-6 weeks
partial transfer low risk to confirm
A short step up, staying in Elementary (around grade 4 ABRSM/RCM). The skill that will carry the work: Caractère et style — the notes are not enough: articulation and ornaments follow performance conventions best checked in an urtext edition.
Gentle
Die Nebensonnen
Franz Schubert
36/100 +4 pts 3-6 weeks
close skills low risk to confirm
A short step up, staying in Elementary (around grade 4 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
50 Russian Folk Songs
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
35/100 +3 pts 3-6 weeks
close skills low risk to confirm
A short step up, staying in Elementary (around grade 4 ABRSM/RCM). The skill that will carry the work: Caractère et style — the notes are not enough: articulation and ornaments follow performance conventions best checked in an urtext edition.
Gentle
6 Humoresque-bagatelles, FS22, op. 11
Carl Nielsen
35/100 +3 pts 3-6 weeks
close skills low risk to confirm
A short step up, staying in Elementary (around grade 4 ABRSM/RCM). The skill that will carry the work: Caractère et style — 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
Marche triomphale in E flat major, H.16
John Field
45/100 +13 pts 8-16 weeks
close skills 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: Caractère et style — the notes are not enough: articulation and ornaments follow performance conventions best checked in an urtext edition.
Balanced
Mahomets Gesang, D 721
Franz Schubert
40/100 +8 pts 8-16 weeks
close skills moderate risk to confirm
A real step up, staying in Elementary (around grade 4 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.
Balanced
12 Waltzes, 17 Ländler and 9 Écossaises, D.145, op. 18
Franz Schubert
40/100 +8 pts 8-16 weeks
close skills moderate risk to confirm
A real step up, staying in Elementary (around grade 4 ABRSM/RCM). The skill that will carry the work: Caractère et style — the notes are not enough: articulation and ornaments follow performance conventions best checked in an urtext edition.
Balanced
2 Pieces, op. 1
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
40/100 +8 pts 8-16 weeks
close skills moderate risk to confirm
A real step up, staying in Elementary (around grade 4 ABRSM/RCM). The skill that will carry the work: Caractère et style — 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
Allegretto in C minor, D.915
Franz Schubert
50/100 +18 pts 16-32 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: Style classique and Analyse harmonique — the notes are not enough: articulation and ornaments follow performance conventions best checked in an urtext edition.
Challenge
Variation on a Waltz by A. Diabelli D 718
Franz Schubert
47/100 +15 pts 16-32 weeks
partial transfer moderate risk to confirm
An ambitious leap into Intermediate (around grade 5 ABRSM/RCM) — only worth starting if the practice time is really there. New compared with the previous piece: Connaissance des formes and Indépendance des mains — understand the form and the harmony before memorising, or memory collapses the moment you play for someone.
Challenge
Well-tempered Clavier, Book 1, BWV.846-869
Johann Sebastian Bach
47/100 +15 pts 16-32 weeks
new reflexes moderate risk to confirm
An ambitious leap into Intermediate (around grade 5 ABRSM/RCM) — only worth starting if the practice time is really there. New compared with the previous piece: Polyphonie à trois voix ou plus 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
Waltz in B minor Op.69 No.2
Frédéric Chopin
33/100 +1 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: Indépendance des mains — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.
Same level
8 Écossaises, D.977
Franz Schubert
34/100 +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. The demand here is musical rather than mechanical: Tempo rubato — the pitfall is the pulse drifting as soon as the writing thickens: subdivide with the metronome.
Same level
2 Scherzos, D.593
Franz Schubert
34/100 +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. The demand here is musical rather than mechanical: Tempo rubato — the pitfall is the pulse drifting as soon as the writing thickens: subdivide with the metronome.
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.