Repertoire › Air varié No.8, Op.27 › What to play next
What to play after Air varié No.8, Op.27 ?
Joseph Ghys · difficulty 60/100

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
Elegy, for violin and piano
Toru Takemitsu
65/100 +5 pts 6-12 weeks
close skills low risk to confirm
A short step up — but it is the one that moves you into Advanced (around grade 7 ABRSM/RCM). The skill that will carry the work: Legato d'archet and Vibrato — practise it slowly, separating left hand from bow: bow alone on open strings, then the fingering silently.
Gentle
Air varié No.10, Op.31
Joseph Ghys
64/100 +4 pts 6-12 weeks
close skills low risk to confirm
A short step up, staying in Intermediate (around grade 7 ABRSM/RCM). The skill that will carry the work: Passages rapides and Vibrato — practise it slowly, separating left hand from bow: bow alone on open strings, then the fingering silently.
Gentle
Airs variés
Charles-Auguste de Bériot
64/100 +4 pts 6-12 weeks
close skills low risk to confirm
A short step up, staying in Intermediate (around grade 7 ABRSM/RCM). New compared with the previous piece: Doigté complexe and Passages rapides — settle and write in both fingering and bowings at first reading: changing them later costs weeks.
Gentle
Les Adieux, Op.9
Pablo de Sarasate
67/100 +7 pts 6-12 weeks
close skills low risk to confirm
A short step up — but it is the one that moves you into Advanced (around grade 7 ABRSM/RCM). The skill that will carry the work: Passages rapides and Vibrato — practise it slowly, separating left hand from bow: bow alone on open strings, then the fingering silently.
Gentle
Air with Variations No.9, Op.52
Charles-Auguste de Bériot
67/100 +7 pts 6-12 weeks
close skills low risk to confirm
A short step up — but it is the one that moves you into Advanced (around grade 7 ABRSM/RCM). New compared with the previous piece: Intonation and Vibrato — practise it slowly, separating left hand from bow: bow alone on open strings, then the fingering silently.
Balanced step

A genuine step up, without a jolt.

Balanced
Rondo for Violin and Piano in B minor, D. 895, op. 70, "Rondeau brillant"
Franz Schubert
71/100 +11 pts 14-28 weeks
close skills moderate risk to confirm
A real step up: this piece moves you into Advanced (around grade 8 ABRSM/RCM). New compared with the previous piece: Intonation and Connaissance des formes — practise it slowly, separating left hand from bow: bow alone on open strings, then the fingering silently.
Balanced
Abodah, B.66
Ernest Bloch
72/100 +12 pts 14-28 weeks
close skills moderate risk to confirm
A real step up: this piece moves you into Advanced (around grade 8 ABRSM/RCM). New compared with the previous piece: Style moderne et contemporain and Vibrato — the notes are not enough: articulation and ornaments follow performance conventions best checked in an urtext edition.
Balanced
Air varié No. 7
Henri Vieuxtemps
68/100 +8 pts 12-24 weeks
close skills moderate risk to confirm
A real step up: this piece moves you into Advanced (around grade 7 ABRSM/RCM). The skill that will carry the work: Passages rapides and Vibrato — practise it slowly, separating left hand from bow: bow alone on open strings, then the fingering silently.
Balanced
Violin Sonata No. 31
Mozart
74/100 +14 pts 14-28 weeks
close skills moderate risk to confirm
A real step up: this piece moves you into Advanced (around grade 8 ABRSM/RCM). New compared with the previous piece: Positions hautes and Vibrato — practise it slowly, separating left hand from bow: bow alone on open strings, then the fingering silently.
Ambitious challenge

A useful leap with guided practice.

Challenge
Violin Sonata no. 3 in D minor, op. 108
Johannes Brahms
77/100 +17 pts 28-56 weeks
partial transfer high risk to confirm
An ambitious leap into Advanced (around grade 8 ABRSM/RCM) — only worth starting if the practice time is really there. New compared with the previous piece: Connaissance des formes and Changements de position — understand the form and the harmony before memorising, or memory collapses the moment you play for someone.
Challenge
Cadenza to the Rondo (Wolfgang Schneiderhan)
Eugene Ysaÿe
80/100 +20 pts 28-56 weeks
new reflexes high risk to confirm
An ambitious leap into Advanced (around grade 8 ABRSM/RCM) — only worth starting if the practice time is really there. New compared with the previous piece: Intonation and Doigté complexe — practise it slowly, separating left hand from bow: bow alone on open strings, then the fingering silently.
Challenge
Violin Sonata no. 9 in A major, op. 47, "Kreutzer"
Ludwig van Beethoven
80/100 +20 pts 32-64 weeks
partial transfer 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: Connaissance des formes and Trilles — understand the form and the harmony before memorising, or memory collapses the moment you play for someone.
Same level

To widen the repertoire without raising the level.

Same level
Violin Sonata A major op. 30,1
Ludwig van Beethoven
62/100 +2 pts 4-7 weeks
close skills low risk to confirm
Equivalent demands, still Intermediate (around grade 7 ABRSM/RCM): what changes is the ground. What changes is the skill in play: Style classique and Changements de position — the notes are not enough: articulation and ornaments follow performance conventions best checked in an urtext edition.
Same level
Violin Sonata no. 2 in G major, op. 13
Edvard Grieg
58/100 -2 pts 4-6 weeks
partial transfer low risk to confirm
Equivalent demands, still Intermediate (around grade 6 ABRSM/RCM): what changes is the ground. What changes is the skill in play: Connaissance des formes and Changements de position — understand the form and the harmony before memorising, or memory collapses the moment you play for someone.
Same level
Violin Sonata no. 4 in A minor, op. 23
Ludwig van Beethoven
63/100 +3 pts 4-7 weeks
partial transfer low risk to confirm
Equivalent demands, still Intermediate (around grade 7 ABRSM/RCM): what changes is the ground. What changes is the skill in play: Connaissance des formes and Style classique — 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.