Repertoire › For the First Time, for piano › What to play next
What to play after For the First Time, for piano ?
Howard Hanson · 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
Black Bottom, H.165
Bohuslav Martinů
35/100 +5 pts 3-6 weeks
close skills low risk to confirm
A short step up, staying in Elementary (around grade 4 ABRSM/RCM). The skill that will carry the work: Style moderne et contemporain — the notes are not enough: articulation and ornaments follow performance conventions best checked in an urtext edition.
Gentle
In Bristol Town, folk song for piano, 6 hands
Percy Grainger
35/100 +5 pts 3-6 weeks
close skills low risk to confirm
A short step up, staying in Elementary (around grade 4 ABRSM/RCM). The skill that will carry the work: Style moderne et contemporain — the notes are not enough: articulation and ornaments follow performance conventions best checked in an urtext edition.
Gentle
Danza de la amapola
Joaquín Rodrigo
35/100 +5 pts 3-6 weeks
close skills low risk to confirm
A short step up, staying in Elementary (around grade 4 ABRSM/RCM). The skill that will carry the work: Style moderne et contemporain — the notes are not enough: articulation and ornaments follow performance conventions best checked in an urtext edition.
Gentle
6 Esquisses, H.203
Bohuslav Martinů
34/100 +4 pts 3-6 weeks
close skills low risk to confirm
A short step up, staying in Elementary (around grade 4 ABRSM/RCM). The skill that will carry the work: Style moderne et contemporain — the notes are not enough: articulation and ornaments follow performance conventions best checked in an urtext edition.
Gentle
Tristorosa, A.34
Heitor Villa-Lobos
37/100 +7 pts 3-6 weeks
close skills low risk to confirm
A short step up, staying in Elementary (around grade 4 ABRSM/RCM). New compared with the previous piece: Analyse harmonique and Style moderne et contemporain — understand the form and the harmony before memorising, or memory collapses the moment you play for someone.
Balanced step

A genuine step up, without a jolt.

Balanced
Miniatures for piano, no. 1, Reminiscence, op. 12, no. 1
Howard Hanson
40/100 +10 pts 8-16 weeks
close skills moderate risk to confirm
A real step up, staying in Elementary (around grade 4 ABRSM/RCM). The skill that will carry the work: Style moderne et contemporain — the notes are not enough: articulation and ornaments follow performance conventions best checked in an urtext edition.
Balanced
Klavierstücke
Percy Grainger
40/100 +10 pts 8-16 weeks
close skills moderate risk to confirm
A real step up, staying in Elementary (around grade 4 ABRSM/RCM). The skill that will carry the work: Style moderne et contemporain — the notes are not enough: articulation and ornaments follow performance conventions best checked in an urtext edition.
Balanced
Bagatelle, H.323
Bohuslav Martinů
40/100 +10 pts 8-16 weeks
close skills moderate risk to confirm
A real step up, staying in Elementary (around grade 4 ABRSM/RCM). The skill that will carry the work: Style moderne et contemporain — the notes are not enough: articulation and ornaments follow performance conventions best checked in an urtext edition.
Balanced
11 Valentine Waltzes, W.74
George Antheil
40/100 +10 pts 8-16 weeks
close skills moderate risk to confirm
A real step up, staying in Elementary (around grade 4 ABRSM/RCM). The skill that will carry the work: Style moderne et contemporain — 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
Poèmes érotiques, for piano, no. 1, "Peace", op. 9, no. 1
Howard Hanson
45/100 +15 pts 16-32 weeks
close skills moderate risk to confirm
An ambitious leap into Intermediate (around grade 5 ABRSM/RCM) — only worth starting if the practice time is really there. The skill that will carry the work: Style moderne et contemporain — the notes are not enough: articulation and ornaments follow performance conventions best checked in an urtext edition.
Challenge
A Fiandeira, A.176
Heitor Villa-Lobos
45/100 +15 pts 16-32 weeks
close skills moderate risk to confirm
An ambitious leap into Intermediate (around grade 5 ABRSM/RCM) — only worth starting if the practice time is really there. The skill that will carry the work: Style moderne et contemporain — the notes are not enough: articulation and ornaments follow performance conventions best checked in an urtext edition.
Challenge
10 Pieces, op. 12
Sergei Prokofiev
45/100 +15 pts 16-32 weeks
close skills 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: Indépendance des mains and Style moderne et contemporain — 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
Down a Country Lane
Aaron Copland
30/100 same level 2-3 weeks
close skills low risk to confirm
Equivalent demands, still Elementary (around grade 3 ABRSM/RCM): what changes is the ground. The skill that will carry the work: Style moderne et contemporain — the notes are not enough: articulation and ornaments follow performance conventions best checked in an urtext edition.
Same level
First Term at the Piano, BB66, Sz.53
Béla Bartók
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: Staccato and Style moderne et contemporain — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.
Same level
Sonatina over themes of peasants from Transsylvania
Béla Bartók
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: Style classique and Connaissance des formes — 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.