Que jouer après Schumanniana, op. 30 ?

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

España: 6 hojas de album, op. 165, B.37

Isaac Albéniz

70/100 +5 pts 7-14 weeks

close skills low risk to confirm

A short step up, staying in Advanced (around grade 7 ABRSM/RCM). The skill that will carry the work: Polyphonie à trois voix ou plus — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.

Gentle

Passacaille

Erik Satie

70/100 +5 pts 7-14 weeks

close skills low risk to confirm

Gentle

Impromptu no. 1 in A flat major, op. 29

Frédéric Chopin

70/100 +5 pts 6-12 weeks

close skills low risk to confirm

A short step up, staying in Advanced (around grade 7 ABRSM/RCM). New compared with the previous piece: Ornements romantiques and Passages rapides — ornaments must be secure before the piece goes up to tempo, otherwise they break the line instead of decorating it.

Gentle

Rondo a capriccio in G major, op. 129, "Rage over a Lost Penny"

Ludwig van Beethoven

72/100 +7 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: Passages rapides — 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

Países soñados: palacio encantado en el mar, leyenda, DLR 5:9

Enrique Granados

76/100 +11 pts 14-28 weeks

close skills moderate risk to confirm

A real step up, staying in Advanced (around grade 8 ABRSM/RCM). The skill that will carry the work: Polyphonie à trois voix ou plus and Demi-pédale — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.

Balanced

Thème Varié, Fugue et Chanson, op. 85

Vincent d'Indy

75/100 +10 pts 14-28 weeks

partial transfer moderate risk to confirm

A real step up, staying in Advanced (around grade 8 ABRSM/RCM). New compared with the previous piece: Analyse harmonique and Doubles notes — understand the form and the harmony before memorising, or memory collapses the moment you play for someone.

Balanced

Piano Sonata in E minor, op. 63

Vincent d'Indy

75/100 +10 pts 14-28 weeks

partial transfer moderate risk to confirm

A real step up, staying in Advanced (around grade 8 ABRSM/RCM). New compared with the previous piece: Connaissance des formes and Ornements romantiques — understand the form and the harmony before memorising, or memory collapses the moment you play for someone.

Balanced

Novelletten, op. 21

Robert Schumann

78/100 +13 pts 14-28 weeks

close skills moderate risk to confirm

A real step up, staying in Advanced (around grade 8 ABRSM/RCM). The skill that will carry the work: Polyphonie à trois voix ou plus — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.

Ambitious challenge

A useful leap with guided practice.

Challenge

Ballade no. 4 in F minor, op. 52

Frédéric Chopin

82/100 +17 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: Octaves — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.

Challenge

Polonaise no. 6 in A flat major, op. 53, "Heroic"

Frédéric Chopin

84/100 +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: Rythmes pointés and Octaves — the pitfall is the pulse drifting as soon as the writing thickens: subdivide with the metronome.

Challenge

Piano Sonata no. 17 in D major, D.850, op. 53, "Gasteiner"

Franz Schubert

82/100 +17 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: Analyse harmonique and Indépendance des mains — 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

Contes de fées, suite, op. 86

Vincent d'Indy

65/100 same level 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: Style baroque and Ornements baroque — the notes are not enough: articulation and ornaments follow performance conventions best checked in an urtext edition.

Same level

4 Impromptus, D.935, op. posth.142

Franz Schubert

66/100 +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: Indépendance des mains — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.

Same level

La plus que lente L.121

Claude Debussy

63/100 -2 pts 4-7 weeks

partial transfer low risk to confirm

Equivalent demands, right at the edge of Intermediate (around grade 7 ABRSM/RCM): different ground, same level. What changes is the skill in play: Style impressionniste — 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.