Repertoire › Scherzo › What to play next
What to play after Scherzo ?
Arnold Bax · difficulty 70/100

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
Scherzo in B major, BB11
Béla Bartók
75/100 +5 pts 7-14 weeks
close skills low risk to confirm
A short step up, staying in Advanced (around grade 8 ABRSM/RCM). The skill that will carry the work: Staccato and Style moderne et contemporain — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.
Gentle
Fantaisie and Toccata, H. 281
Bohuslav Martinů
75/100 +5 pts 7-14 weeks
close skills low risk to confirm
A short step up, staying in Advanced (around grade 8 ABRSM/RCM). The skill that will carry the work: Staccato and Style moderne et contemporain — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.
Gentle
Toccata no. 1 for keyboard
Béla Bartók
75/100 +5 pts 7-14 weeks
close skills low risk to confirm
A short step up, staying in Advanced (around grade 8 ABRSM/RCM). The skill that will carry the work: Staccato and Style moderne et contemporain — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.
Gentle
Scherzo Op.16 No.2
Felix Mendelssohn
76/100 +6 pts 7-14 weeks
close skills low risk to confirm
A short step up, staying in Advanced (around grade 8 ABRSM/RCM). New compared with the previous piece: Rythmes pointés and Staccato — the pitfall is the pulse drifting as soon as the writing thickens: subdivide with the metronome.
Gentle
Scherzo No.2 in B-flat minor Op.31
Frédéric Chopin
73/100 +3 pts 7-14 weeks
close skills low risk to confirm
A short step up, staying in Advanced (around grade 8 ABRSM/RCM). 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.
Balanced step

A genuine step up, without a jolt.

Balanced
Scherzo No.1 in B minor Op.20
Frédéric Chopin
80/100 +10 pts 16-32 weeks
close skills moderate risk to confirm
A real step up: this piece moves you into Great repertoire (diploma level, beyond grade 8). New compared with the previous piece: Demi-pédale and Staccato — the pedal is set by ear, note by note: misjudged, it blurs the harmony instead of joining it.
Balanced
Scherzo, op. 2
Maurice Duruflé
80/100 +10 pts 16-32 weeks
close skills moderate risk to confirm
A real step up: this piece moves you into Great repertoire (diploma level, beyond grade 8). New compared with the previous piece: Indépendance des mains and Style moderne et contemporain — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.
Balanced
Scherzo
Igor Stravinsky
80/100 +10 pts 16-32 weeks
close skills moderate risk to confirm
A real step up: this piece moves you into Great repertoire (diploma level, beyond grade 8). New compared with the previous piece: Indépendance des mains and Demi-pédale — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.
Balanced
The Cat and the Mouse, scherzo humoristique
Aaron Copland
80/100 +10 pts 16-32 weeks
close skills moderate risk to confirm
A real step up: this piece moves you into Great repertoire (diploma level, beyond grade 8). New compared with the previous piece: Ornements romantiques and Doubles notes — ornaments must be secure before the piece goes up to tempo, otherwise they break the line instead of decorating it.
Ambitious challenge

A useful leap with guided practice.

Challenge
Toccata, op. 11
Sergei Prokofiev
86/100 +16 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: Doubles notes and Style moderne et contemporain — 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
Paraphrase on Tchaikovsky's Flower Waltz
Percy Grainger
70/100 same level 5-8 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: Doubles notes and Style moderne et contemporain — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.
Same level
Ballade No.1 in G minor Op.23
Frédéric Chopin
71/100 +1 pts 5-8 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 Octaves — understand the form and the harmony before memorising, or memory collapses the moment you play for someone.
Same level
Polonaise in C major, op. 89
Ludwig van Beethoven
67/100 -3 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: Rythmes pointés and Passages rapides — 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.