Que jouer après Ballade slave, L.70 ?

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.

Back to the full work page

Gentle step

The safest next step.

Gentle

Images, Book 1, L.110

Claude Debussy

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: Balance mains and Indépendance des mains — what matters is quality of attack and evenness of tone, not speed.

Gentle

Poème tragique in B flat major, op. 34

Alexander Scriabin

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 demand here is musical rather than mechanical: Tempo rubato — the pitfall is the pulse drifting as soon as the writing thickens: subdivide with the metronome.

Gentle

Polonaise in G minor, B.1

Frédéric Chopin

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 Ornements romantiques — the pitfall is the pulse drifting as soon as the writing thickens: subdivide with the metronome.

Gentle

Polonaise in F sharp minor, op. 44

Frédéric Chopin

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 Passages rapides — the pitfall is the pulse drifting as soon as the writing thickens: subdivide with the metronome.

Gentle

Images, Book 2, L.111

Claude Debussy

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). 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.

Balanced step

A genuine step up, without a jolt.

Balanced

Première Rhapsodie, for piano

Claude Debussy

82/100 +12 pts 16-32 weeks

close skills moderate risk fair confidence

A real step up: this piece moves you into Great repertoire (diploma level, beyond grade 8). 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

Ballade, for piano no. 2 in B minor, S.170a

Franz Liszt

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). The skill that will carry the work: Octaves — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.

Balanced

Ballade no. 4 in F minor, op. 52

Frédéric Chopin

82/100 +12 pts 16-32 weeks

close skills moderate risk to confirm

Balanced

Ballade no. 2 in B minor, S.171, R.16

Franz Liszt

78/100 +8 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: Octaves — 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. 1, S.170, "Le Chant du Croise"

Franz Liszt

85/100 +15 pts 32-64 weeks

close skills moderate risk to confirm

An ambitious leap into Great repertoire (diploma level, beyond grade 8) — only worth starting if the practice time is really there. The skill that will carry the work: Octaves — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.

Challenge

Scherzo no. 3 in F sharp minor

Mily Balakirev

85/100 +15 pts 32-64 weeks

close skills moderate 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: Staccato — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.

Challenge

Liszt: Cadenza on Hungarian Rhapsody no. 2, TN iii/6

Sergei Rachmaninoff

92/100 +22 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: Rythmes pointés and Ornements romantiques — the pitfall is the pulse drifting as soon as the writing thickens: subdivide with the metronome.

Same level

To widen the repertoire without raising the level.

Same level

Scherzo in F sharp minor, JS 164

Jean Sibelius

70/100 same level 5-8 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: Staccato — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.

Same level

Polonaise in G flat major, B.36

Frédéric Chopin

70/100 same level 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: Rythmes pointés and Passages rapides — the pitfall is the pulse drifting as soon as the writing thickens: subdivide with the metronome.

Same level

Grande Polonaise in E flat major, J.59, op. 21

Carl Maria von Weber

67/100 -3 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: Rythmes pointés and Demi-pédale — 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.