Repertoire › Violin Sonata › What to play next
What to play after Violin Sonata ?
Aaron Copland · 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
Violin Sonata no. 2
Charles Ives
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). New compared with the previous piece: Rythme d'archet complexe and Lecture avec altérations accidentelles — the pitfall is the pulse drifting as soon as the writing thickens: subdivide with the metronome.
Gentle
Violin Sonata no. 1
Charles Ives
75/100 +4 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: Rythme d'archet complexe and Lecture avec altérations accidentelles — the pitfall is the pulse drifting as soon as the writing thickens: subdivide with the metronome.
Gentle
Sonata pimpante, for violin and piano
Joaquín Rodrigo
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). The skill that will carry the work: Vibrato and Legato d'archet — what matters is a steady sustained tone: bow speed, contact point and pressure even, before any thought of speed.
Gentle
Violin Sonata no. 2, "Poème mystique"
Ernest Bloch
77/100 +7 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: Harmoniques and Vibrato — practise it slowly, separating left hand from bow: bow alone on open strings, then the fingering silently.
Gentle
Violin Sonata no. 2 in D major, op. 94bis
Sergei Prokofiev
77/100 +7 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: Rythme d'archet complexe and Positions hautes — the pitfall is the pulse drifting as soon as the writing thickens: subdivide with the metronome.
Balanced step

A genuine step up, without a jolt.

Balanced
Violin Sonata no. 2 in C major, BB85, Sz.76
Béla Bartók
83/100 +13 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: Staccato and Rythme d'archet complexe — practise it slowly, separating left hand from bow: bow alone on open strings, then the fingering silently.
Balanced
Violin Sonata
William Walton
79/100 +9 pts 14-28 weeks
close skills moderate risk to confirm
A real step up, staying in 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.
Balanced
Violin Sonata no. 1 in C sharp minor, op. 21, BB84, Sz.75
Béla Bartók
83/100 +13 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: Rythme d'archet complexe and Positions hautes — the pitfall is the pulse drifting as soon as the writing thickens: subdivide with the metronome.
Balanced
Violin Sonata, op. 134
Dmitri Shostakovich
84/100 +14 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: Intonation and Connaissance des formes — 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 Concerto, op. 36
Arnold Schoenberg
89/100 +19 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: Indépendance des mains and Style moderne et contemporain — practise it slowly, separating left hand from bow: bow alone on open strings, then the fingering silently.
Challenge
Sonata for Violin Solo, BB124, Sz.117
Béla Bartók
89/100 +19 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 cordes and Lecture avec altérations accidentelles — practise it slowly, separating left hand from bow: bow alone on open strings, then the fingering silently.
Challenge
Concerto-Rhapsody for Violin and Orchestra in B flat minor
Aram Khachaturian
90/100 +20 pts 36-72 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: Octaves and Style moderne et contemporain — practise it slowly, separating left hand from bow: bow alone on open strings, then the fingering silently.
Same level

To widen the repertoire without raising the level.

Same level
Concert Piece for Violin and Piano
Arnold Bax
69/100 -1 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: Positions hautes and Style moderne et contemporain — practise it slowly, separating left hand from bow: bow alone on open strings, then the fingering silently.
Same level
Theme and 5 Variations in E major, for violin and piano
Alban Berg
68/100 -2 pts 4-7 weeks
close skills 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: Positions hautes and Connaissance des formes — practise it slowly, separating left hand from bow: bow alone on open strings, then the fingering silently.
Same level
Three Preludes for Violin and Piano
George Gershwin
68/100 -2 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: Intonation and Style moderne et contemporain — practise it slowly, separating left hand from bow: bow alone on open strings, then the fingering silently.
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.