Repertoire › Scherzo no. 1 in B minor › What to play next
What to play after Scherzo no. 1 in B minor ?
Mily Balakirev · difficulty 85/100

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
Toccata in C sharp minor
Mily Balakirev
90/100 +5 pts 9-18 weeks
close skills low risk to confirm
A short step up, staying in Great repertoire (diploma level, beyond grade 8). The skill that will carry the work: Staccato — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.
Gentle
Toccata: Preludio, Fantasia, Ciaccona, KiV 287
Ferruccio Busoni
90/100 +5 pts 9-18 weeks
close skills low risk to confirm
A short step up, staying in Great repertoire (diploma level, beyond grade 8). The skill that will carry the work: Staccato — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.
Gentle
Toccata, S.197a, R.60
Franz Liszt
91/100 +6 pts 9-18 weeks
close skills low risk to confirm
A short step up, staying in Great repertoire (diploma level, beyond grade 8). The skill that will carry the work: Staccato — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.
Gentle
Islamey: Oriental Fantasy
Mily Balakirev
88/100 +3 pts 8-16 weeks
close skills low risk to confirm
A short step up, staying in Great repertoire (diploma level, beyond grade 8). New compared with the previous piece: Rythmes pointés and Croisements de mains — the pitfall is the pulse drifting as soon as the writing thickens: subdivide with the metronome.
Gentle
Toccata for piano
Franz Schmidt
88/100 +3 pts 8-16 weeks
close skills low risk to confirm
A short step up, staying in Great repertoire (diploma level, beyond grade 8). New compared with the previous piece: Doubles notes — 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
Concert Paraphrase of 'Rigoletto', S.434, R.267
Franz Liszt
96/100 +11 pts 18-36 weeks
close skills moderate risk to confirm
A real step up, staying in 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
Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV.565
Ferruccio Busoni
95/100 +10 pts 18-36 weeks
close skills moderate risk to confirm
A real step up, staying in Great repertoire (diploma level, beyond grade 8). New compared with the previous piece: Analyse harmonique and Polyphonie à trois voix ou plus — understand the form and the harmony before memorising, or memory collapses the moment you play for someone.
Balanced
Concert Paraphrase of 'Ernani', S.432
Franz Liszt
95/100 +10 pts 18-36 weeks
partial transfer moderate risk to confirm
A real step up, staying in Great repertoire (diploma level, beyond grade 8). New compared with the previous piece: Demi-pédale and Passages rapides — the pedal is set by ear, note by note: misjudged, it blurs the harmony instead of joining it.
Balanced
Piano Sonata no. 29 in B flat major, op. 106, "Hammerklavier"
Ludwig van Beethoven
95/100 +10 pts 18-36 weeks
partial transfer moderate risk to confirm
A real step up, staying in Great repertoire (diploma level, beyond grade 8). 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.
Ambitious challenge

A useful leap with guided practice.

Challenge
Ab irato, S.143, "The Perfect Etude"
Franz Liszt
100/100 +15 pts 40-80 weeks
partial transfer moderate risk to confirm
An ambitious leap while staying in Great repertoire (diploma level, beyond grade 8) — only worth starting if the practice time is really there. New compared with the previous piece: Gammes et arpèges and Demi-pédale — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.
Challenge
Sonata in G major, K.471, L.82
Domenico Scarlatti
100/100 +15 pts 40-80 weeks
new reflexes moderate risk to confirm
An ambitious leap while staying in 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 and Style baroque — understand the form and the harmony before memorising, or memory collapses the moment you play for someone.
Challenge
A.r.
Iannis Xenakis
100/100 +15 pts 40-80 weeks
new reflexes moderate risk to confirm
An ambitious leap while staying in Great repertoire (diploma level, beyond grade 8) — only worth starting if the practice time is really there. 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.
Same level

To widen the repertoire without raising the level.

Same level
Polonaise-fantaisie in A flat major, op. 61
Frédéric Chopin
83/100 -2 pts 6-9 weeks
partial transfer low risk to confirm
Equivalent demands, still Great repertoire (diploma level, beyond grade 8): what changes is the ground. What changes is the skill in play: 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.
Same level
Ballade no. 4 in F minor, op. 52
Frédéric Chopin
82/100 -3 pts 6-9 weeks
partial transfer low risk to confirm
Equivalent demands, still Great repertoire (diploma level, beyond grade 8): what changes is the ground. 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.
Same level
Islamey: Oriental Fantasy
Mily Balakirev
88/100 +3 pts 6-9 weeks
close skills low risk to confirm
Equivalent demands, still Great repertoire (diploma level, beyond grade 8): what changes is the ground. What changes is the skill in play: Rythmes pointés and Croisements de mains — 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.