Repertoire › First Term at the Piano, BB66, Sz.53 › What to play next
What to play after First Term at the Piano, BB66, Sz.53 ?
Béla Bartók · difficulty 30/100

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
Sonatina, BB69, Sz.55
Béla Bartók
35/100 +5 pts 3-6 weeks
close skills low risk to confirm
A short step up, staying in Elementary (around grade 4 ABRSM/RCM). 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.
Gentle
3 Klavierstucke, BB14
Béla Bartók
35/100 +5 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: Style moderne et contemporain — the notes are not enough: articulation and ornaments follow performance conventions best checked in an urtext edition.
Gentle
Children's Album
Aram Khachaturian
35/100 +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: Style moderne et contemporain — the notes are not enough: articulation and ornaments follow performance conventions best checked in an urtext edition.
Gentle
Three Easy Pieces
Igor Stravinsky
35/100 +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: Style moderne et contemporain — the notes are not enough: articulation and ornaments follow performance conventions best checked in an urtext edition.
Gentle
A Fairy-Tale of Goldilocks, H.28
Bohuslav Martinů
33/100 +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: Style moderne et contemporain — 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
3 Hungarian Folk Tunes, BB80b, Sz.66
Béla Bartók
40/100 +10 pts 8-16 weeks
partial transfer moderate risk to confirm
A real step up, staying in Elementary (around grade 4 ABRSM/RCM). The skill that will carry the work: Style moderne et contemporain — the notes are not enough: articulation and ornaments follow performance conventions best checked in an urtext edition.
Balanced
Román népi táncok, BB68, Sz.56
Béla Bartók
40/100 +10 pts 8-16 weeks
partial transfer moderate risk to confirm
A real step up, staying in Elementary (around grade 4 ABRSM/RCM). The skill that will carry the work: Style moderne et contemporain — the notes are not enough: articulation and ornaments follow performance conventions best checked in an urtext edition.
Balanced
Sonatasatz
Anton Webern
40/100 +10 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: Style moderne et contemporain — the notes are not enough: articulation and ornaments follow performance conventions best checked in an urtext edition.
Balanced
Ponteios, Book 1
Camargo Guarnieri
40/100 +10 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: Style moderne et contemporain — 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
Tre Correnti
Béla Bartók
45/100 +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: Rythmes pointés and Style moderne et contemporain — the pitfall is the pulse drifting as soon as the writing thickens: subdivide with the metronome.
Challenge
3 Hungarian Folksongs from Csík, BB45b, Sz.35a
Béla Bartók
45/100 +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. The skill that will carry the work: Style moderne et contemporain — the notes are not enough: articulation and ornaments follow performance conventions best checked in an urtext edition.
Challenge
A Fiandeira, A.176
Heitor Villa-Lobos
45/100 +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. The skill that will carry the work: Style moderne et contemporain — the notes are not enough: articulation and ornaments follow performance conventions best checked in an urtext edition.
Same level

To widen the repertoire without raising the level.

Same level
Pastorale for keyboard in C
Béla Bartók
30/100 same level 2-3 weeks
partial transfer low risk to confirm
Equivalent demands, still Elementary (around grade 3 ABRSM/RCM): what changes is the ground. The skill that will carry the work: Style moderne et contemporain — the notes are not enough: articulation and ornaments follow performance conventions best checked in an urtext edition.
Same level
Sonatina over themes of peasants from Transsylvania
Béla Bartók
30/100 same level 2-3 weeks
partial transfer low risk to confirm
Equivalent demands, still Elementary (around grade 3 ABRSM/RCM): what changes is the ground. What changes is the skill in play: Style classique and Connaissance des formes — the notes are not enough: articulation and ornaments follow performance conventions best checked in an urtext edition.
Same level
2 Children's Pieces
Aaron Copland
30/100 same level 2-3 weeks
partial transfer low risk to confirm
Equivalent demands, still Elementary (around grade 3 ABRSM/RCM): what changes is the ground. The skill that will carry the work: Style moderne et contemporain — 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.