Repertoire › Music for Piano 2 › What to play next
What to play after Music for Piano 2 ?
John Cage · 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
A Room
John Cage
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: Indépendance des mains — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.
Gentle
Music for Piano 2, for piano
John Cage
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: Indépendance des mains — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.
Gentle
Playsong (with two pentatonic scales)
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: Lecture à vue — keep it up with daily reading of easy pieces rather than grinding one passage.
Gentle
No.77 — Little Study
Béla Bartók
34/100 +4 pts 3-6 weeks
partial transfer low risk to confirm
A short step up, staying in Elementary (around grade 4 ABRSM/RCM). New compared with the previous piece: Rythmes pointés and Passages rapides — the pitfall is the pulse drifting as soon as the writing thickens: subdivide with the metronome.
Gentle
Waltz op. post. 127,15 D 146
Franz Schubert
34/100 +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: Lecture à vue — keep it up with daily reading of easy pieces rather than grinding one passage.
Balanced step

A genuine step up, without a jolt.

Balanced
Two-part Study
Béla Bartók
42/100 +12 pts 8-16 weeks
partial transfer moderate risk to confirm
A real step up, staying in Elementary (around grade 5 ABRSM/RCM). New compared with the previous piece: Polyphonie à deux voix — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.
Balanced
No.83 — Melody with Interruptions
Béla Bartók
39/100 +9 pts 6-12 weeks
partial transfer moderate risk to confirm
A real step up, staying in Elementary (around grade 4 ABRSM/RCM). New compared with the previous piece: Rythmes pointés and Indépendance des mains — the pitfall is the pulse drifting as soon as the writing thickens: subdivide with the metronome.
Balanced
Invention No.3 in D major BWV 774
Johann Sebastian Bach
38/100 +8 pts 6-12 weeks
partial transfer moderate risk to confirm
A real step up, staying in Elementary (around grade 4 ABRSM/RCM). New compared with the previous piece: Style baroque and Polyphonie à deux voix — the notes are not enough: articulation and ornaments follow performance conventions best checked in an urtext edition.
Balanced
Invention No.5 in E-flat major BWV 776
Johann Sebastian Bach
38/100 +8 pts 6-12 weeks
partial transfer moderate risk to confirm
A real step up, staying in Elementary (around grade 4 ABRSM/RCM). New compared with the previous piece: Style baroque and Polyphonie à deux voix — 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
3-Part Inventions, BWV.787-801
Johann Sebastian Bach
47/100 +17 pts 16-32 weeks
new reflexes high 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: Style baroque and Ornements baroque — the notes are not enough: articulation and ornaments follow performance conventions best checked in an urtext edition.
Challenge
Well-tempered Clavier, Book 1, BWV.846-869
Johann Sebastian Bach
47/100 +17 pts 16-32 weeks
new reflexes high 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.
Challenge
Music for Piano 4 - 19, for piano or any number of pianos
John Cage
45/100 +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: Croisements de mains — 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
One 2, for 1-4 pianos
John Cage
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: Connaissance des formes — understand the form and the harmony before memorising, or memory collapses the moment you play for someone.
Same level
Suite for Toy Piano
John Cage
30/100 same level 2-3 weeks
new reflexes 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 baroque and Ornements baroque — the notes are not enough: articulation and ornaments follow performance conventions best checked in an urtext edition.
Same level
2-Part Inventions, BWV.772-786
Johann Sebastian Bach
32/100 +2 pts 2-3 weeks
new reflexes 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 baroque and Ornements baroque — 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.