Table of Contents

Ctrl + Home to navigate back to Table of Contents from anywhere in the document.

About this document. .............................................................................................................................. 2

Some Quick Disclaimers. ...................................................................................................................... 2
The Grading System. ............................................................................................................................ 2
How to use this document. .................................................................................................................. 3
Early Beginner. ......................................................................................................................................... 4
Personal recommendations. ................................................................................................................ 4
Full list. ................................................................................................................................................. 4
Beginner. .................................................................................................................................................. 6
Personal recommendations. ................................................................................................................ 6
Full list. ................................................................................................................................................. 6
Advanced Beginner. ................................................................................................................................. 8
Personal recommendations. ................................................................................................................ 8
Full list. ................................................................................................................................................. 8
Late Beginner. ........................................................................................................................................ 10
Personal recommendations. .............................................................................................................. 10
Full list. ............................................................................................................................................... 11
Early Intermediate. ................................................................................................................................. 13
Personal recommendations. .............................................................................................................. 13
Full list. ............................................................................................................................................... 13
Intermediate........................................................................................................................................... 16
Personal recommendations. .............................................................................................................. 16
Full list. ............................................................................................................................................... 16
Advanced Intermediate. ......................................................................................................................... 18
Late Intermediate. .................................................................................................................................. 20
Advanced and beyond. ........................................................................................................................... 21
Full list. ............................................................................................................................................... 21
 About this document.

The initial goal of this document was to create a comprehensive list that sorts books on a piece to
piece basis. I now realize that a Word file is far from sufficient for accomplishing such a feat. That
doesn’t mean, however, that improvements cannot be made on my initial draft.

My goal of this revised document is to list books based on both their average difficulty and the point
at which you should first start studying the book. A short description will be added to every level (or
grade, if you will). I will explain what I think is what you’re to learn at this level and I may specifically
recommend some books. Not every piece in a book will be of that difficulty, as the progression of
difficulty within a book is nearly always too steep to allow this. If a book is listed at a certain difficulty
level, it means that you should be able at this point to learn the easiest pieces which this book
contains. I tried to refrain from adding too many comments on each entry; most comments you’ll
find at the earlier levels, or the first time that a composer shows up.

Some Quick Disclaimers.

Since I’m currently somewhere between Early Intermediate and Intermediate in terms of abilities (as
of 4 November 2018), the difficulty rankings from Intermediate and up are likely to contain
inaccuracies. I will update and fix these as time passes. This is also why I kept the flavour text past
this level at a bare minimum. As I get better at playing and improve my knowledge of things, this will
be updated (if needed).

I try to not let my personal taste get a say in what makes the list and what doesn’t. If you find a work
missing which you think should be included, do contact me. I do, however, reserve the right to not
add particular works by particular composers (Czerny, Hanon, and similar anti-music).

The Grading System.

The grading system that I use here is mainly based on Bartók’s Mikrokosmos. These are the books
that I used as my, for lack of a better word, method books. Especially the first two books, where
material by other composers was often learned to supplement something Bartók tried to teach me.

The difficulty ranking of the music that you’ll find at the Beginner and Intermediate levels is judged
in relation to the first four books of Mikrokosmos, where I tried to match the concepts that are
introduced there with the works of other composers. Learning every piece from Mikrokosmos,
supplemented by a good amount of material by other composers, should nicely prepare you for the
more ‘adult’ works.

While I have used various grading systems as a reference at some point while making this document
(and during the last two years in general), all the grading in this document is my own. Two notable
points of reference include the RCM Syllabus and Jane Margrath’s Pianist’s Guide to Standard
Teaching and Performance Literature. The former is invaluable if you want to quickly check the
difficulty of a piece, the latter is amazing for discovering new works and composers.
 How to use this document.

It is necessary that you use your own judgement when consulting this document. It’s a fact that we
all learn differently and have different preferences when it comes to learning a new piece of music
but do beware that you’re not asking too much of yourself. A challenge musn’t be or feel
insurmountable, and it truly doesn’t have to if you wish to improve. You may even find that going for
countless smaller victories is both a very pleasant and a very effective way to learn and improve.

Being able to be critical of your own abilities and choosing a piece of music accordingly is an
invaluable skill to develop and nurture. It’s hard, especially at the start, but by being honest with
yourself and by always evaluating your choices, this is a process which you can really grow in. It’s a
path that leads to long-term improvement as a piano player, and you’ll allow yourself to learn a ton
of music, get to know a lot of different composers, and expose yourself to a multitude of musical
styles.

It may seem like I overestimate the technical difficulty of pieces. Let me assure you I don’t; I merely
don’t see the technical aspect of playing as the main decider in how hard a piece is. How tough it is
to read I find more important. How hard it is to play with musicality I find most important of all. If
technical execution is all we care about, then we’d learn to play the piano only to sound like a MIDI-
file. Thus, when a piece feels technically easy, make sure you perform it exactly like you want it to.
Record yourself and listen back. Finetune how you play. Pay attention to your articulation. They are
small things, but in the long run they add up to make you a competent piano player with a style
unique to just you.

If you’re using this document to create your own path through the traditional grades, or through the
levels of difficulty as I describe them here, it is important to not rush through a level of difficulty. I
will repeat this several times; it really is that important. Aim to learn a variety of works in a variety of
styles written by a variety of composers from a variety of time periods. Don’t just learn a handful of
pieces and move on, work on material of a certain level of difficulty until you find that the music
noticeably becomes much easier to learn. This can be measured both in terms of time spent
practicing a piece, the quality of the end-result, and the ease with which you eventually learn to play
the piece. If you do things the right way, transitioning into the next level of difficulty will be seamless,
which is how it should be.

Challenging yourself is okay, struggling is not. At no point should you feel like you’re running into a
brick wall. If you are, there are some previous, fundamental steps which you’ve skipped. There’s no
shame in going back to easier material if that’s the case. Quite the opposite; it’ll likely be the best
thing you can do. Learning a bunch of easier material can also be incredibly rewarding; it shows just
how far you’ve already come!

Lastly, actively read when learning material, don’t memorize! The long-term benefits of being a good
reader are incredible. Your improvement as a player will directly translate in you being able to learn
increasingly hard material in a short amount of time.

I hope you find this document helpful. If there’s any book you’d like to see added, if there’s
something you disagree with, or anything else, you can contact me on Reddit.

Sincerely, /u/Keselo.
 Early Beginner.

As an early beginner, you are to set your first steps in learning how to comfortably learn a piece as
you actively read along. You’ll learn to keep your glancing down at the keys at a bare minimum. The
books listed below will help you feel comfortable with playing up to an interval of a fifth, mostly in
five-finger position.

The sad truth about this earliest stage, is that most material is what most people know as ‘children’s
songs’. I tried to select the highest quality music written at this level; when I went through this phase,
I just couldn’t be bothered to learn all the ‘Mary Had A Little Lambs’ of this world.

Personal recommendations.

Bartók – Mikrokosmos, Book 1: To me, Mikrokosmos is the Holy Bible of piano teaching. Put
together over the course of many years by perhaps the greatest composer of the 20 th century, Béla
Bartók, the first four books of Mikrokosmos cover many of the skills you are to acquire to get you
from the earliest stages of learning all the way through the Intermediate levels. Granted, the music
takes some time to get used to, and it’s not for everyone, but you can learn to love it (I personally
hated it at first. Now, he’s one of my favourite composers). And if you do, it’ll serve you very, very
well. It’s tough, which makes learning material of a similar difficulty that much easier. If you don’t
want to use a method book, I recommend you use these books instead. If you’re mostly interested in
Classical music, I think it will even serve you better than most method books.

Full list.

Bartók – Mikrokosmos, Book 1: Hand movement only in between phrases, everything is to be played
legato, heavy use of accidentals, syncopation, and modes, which will get you used to playing the
black keys from the earliest stages. Additionally, a great use of Mikrokosmos is to prepare you for
music from the Baroque period.

Gurlitt Op. 117 – The First Lessons: This book’s usability lies mainly in its easiest pieces. If you like
this book, I recommend you keep working on it through the Beginner stage as well. After No. 25 it
gets a lot harder, but by that time you should be able to learn some of the material written by Gurlitt
listed at the Advanced Beginner level.

Kunz Op. 14 – 200 Short Two-Part Canons: While there’s some definite difficulty progression in this
book, its main usefulness lies in getting you more comfortable with ‘hand coordination’ (commonly
referred to as hand independence). When Bartók introduces counterpoint at Mikrokosmos No. 22,
you may feel overwhelmed by how hard it is for your hands to both do something different at the
same time. This book by Kunz will help you get more practice doing just that. Another great primer
for Baroque music.
Satie - Menus Propos Enfantins: The pieces are harder than they may initially look; I recommend
you start working on these towards the end of Mikrokosmos Book 1. Try to get a copy with English
comments written in; Satie often wrote humorous notes within his music for the enjoyment of the
player, and these comments truly make the pieces come to life. Such a book is published by the
ABRSM and comes bundled with the two books listed under Beginner. Overall, there’s a lot of room
for growth within all these pieces.
 Beginner.

As a beginner, you are reasonably comfortable identifying and playing intervals of up to a fifth. You
can play easy pieces in which you play in parallel or contrary motion, as well as simple forms of
counterpoint.

Your goal as a beginner is to get more comfortable with all that you’ve learned before, as well as a
couple of new concepts. You’ll work to identify and play intervals of up to an 8 th. You’ll play more
harmonic intervals (two notes at the same time in one hand). You’ll work on getting down playing a
melody with an accompaniment, where the main challenge will lie in playing the melody louder and
the accompaniment softer. While hand movement will still be minimal, there is some shifting of the
lower arm to reposition your fingers to play a certain note, group of notes, or passage. Playing some
relatively easy material, you should also work on making a melody sing; using your own judgement,
try to decide which notes of a melody are more important than the rest. Try to create a natural
cadence of sound which will result in a much more pleasant listening experience. Lastly, now that
you can play with finger legato, you’ll come across more pieces which require some use of the
sustain pedal, as well as the complete opposite: notes that are to be played staccato.

Simply put, now that you are more comfortable behind the piano, your goal changes from ‘pressing
the right keys’ to ‘pressing the right keys in a way which sounds better’. It’s a long process, which is
good to get started on at an early stage. To learn how to play a piece beautifully, you must’ve
practiced playing something beautifully again and again. That’s what you’ll start working on from this
point onwards so that, some years down the line, you can learn to play a piece by Chopin, and you’ll
learn to play it beautifully.

Personal recommendations.

Bartók – Mikrokosmos, Book 2: The second book continues where the first book left off. If you
enjoyed the first book of Mikrokosmos, you should continue with this one; the music only gets better
and more interesting as you get further in these series. This book carries over into the Advanced
Beginner level. Thus, you can, towards the second half of the book, start supplementing this with
material listed under Advanced Beginner.

Dunhill – First Year Pieces: In my opinion, the best sounding material up to this level of playing.
Definitely worth buying.

Full list.

Bartók – Mikrokosmos, Book 2: A large focus on playing melody with accompaniment, oftentimes
with both hands having the melody at a point in the piece. Many broken chords. First introduction to
staccato playing. The use of dynamics (how loud or soft you play) is heavily emphasized; do expect
both hands to play at a different volume at the same time. Towards the second half of the book, the
amount of hand movement in between phrases is increased. There will be an increasing number of
harmonic intervals. Towards the end of the book, you’ll also start on holding a note with one finger
while other fingers in the same hand play other notes. Since most of these concepts are presented in
an isolated manner, you get to focus on the main challenge that the piece provides.

Boyle - In Times Past: A charming book containing twelve short pieces, which sound both nostalgic
and modern.

Dunhill - First Year Pieces: A great book to work through as your first collection of one-page pieces of
music. The pieces are relatively easy, which should allow you to also work on your expression. This
book comes bundled with Swinstead – Work and Play (published by the ABRSM).

Kabalevsky Op. 39 – 24 Pieces for Children: This book’s difficulty progression is very steep, especially
towards the end. If you wish to buy this book, try looking one of the various collections of
Kabalevsky’s works of which this book is often part. Note that this book can be found for free on
Google.

Löschhorn Op. 181 – Children’s Studies: Great book for working on your balance between your
hands. The minimal amount of hand movement also makes it an excellent book to reinforce your
reading of intervals.

Satie - Enfantillages Pittoresques

Satie - Peccadilles Importunes

Swinstead - Work and Play

Türk - 60 Pieces for Aspiring Players, 2 books: These are two books which each contain 60 pieces of
progressive difficulty. I list both books here because the easiest pieces are appropriate for a Beginner
but beware that towards the end of both books you’re looking at some Advanced Intermediate
material.
 Advanced Beginner.

Now that you’re at an advanced beginner level, you should feel more confident adding elements of
musicality into your pieces. You’re starting to become familiar with executing dynamics, and you’ve
made a start in learning how to balance both hands. Your ability to produce the exact sound that you
want is something that still needs a lot of work, but at a low tempo you get it right more often than
not.

Your goals mainly lie in developing that which you’ve learned as a Beginner. In addition, you can
expect both your melodies and accompaniments to become more complex. You’ll start seeing
chords, for now mainly triads (and their inversions). You’ll come across passages which include full
scales. You’ll develop your ability to read and execute intervals when you’re not playing with your
optimal fingers (for example, playing a 5th interval with your 2 and 5, instead of with your 1 and 5).
You’ll be introduced to pedal points: holding a note with one finger while you play other notes with
fingers of the same hand.

While the jump in difficulty is relatively small (as far as this list goes), I do recommend taking your
time at this stage. Do your best to gain a bit of finger dexterity, with your aim being the ability to play
with a light touch once the tempo increases. Since the ability to properly and consistently do this
comes with time, it really pays to not rush through. The four books with studies (Attwood, Lynes,
Streabbog, Hässler) serve mainly as a primer to more difficult music from the Classical period.

Personal recommendations.

Tansman – Happy Time, Book 1: Tansman wrote a large amount of gorgeous material for beginners,
which is why I recommend you try to learn some pieces from this book. If Tansman’s music is your
cup of tea, you’ll be rewarded with years’ worth of material to learn.

Full list.

Attwood - Four Sonatinas: The easiest sonatinas of a reasonably high quality that I’m aware of. This
book may very well be your introduction to the Alberti Bass, a typical feature of music of the Classical
period (1750 – 1800). The melodies are pleasant enough to make most movements effective at a
lower tempo.

Gurlitt Op. 101 – Albumleaves for the Young: Gurlitt was a master in writing miniatures which
became so popular in the 19th century. To me, he’s a Schumann Light; not quite as good as the real
deal, but still very enjoyable. Make sure to stick to the easier pieces from this book: those with
minimal hand-movement, the slower pieces, and the pieces written around an accompaniment in
broken chords. This book’s difficulty progresses to an Intermediate level.

Hässler Op. 38 – 50 Pieces for Beginners: Much like the two books by Türk, this is a collection of
small pieces which start out easy but quickly become rather difficult.
Lynes Op. 39 – Analytical Sonatinas: The main value of this book lies in the theoretic analysis which
Lynes added. He names the various elements which you find in Sonatina (and Sonata) form and
indicates which part of the movement is which element.

Streabbog Op. 63 – 12 Very Easy and Melodious Studies: The first book of etudes in this list. Includes
chords, broken chords, scales, dotted rhythms, staccato, and hand movement (at a low tempo). The
second half of the book is better played once you’re closer to the Early Intermediate level.

Szabó – Selected Piano Pieces 1: A collection of some of the easier works by Hungarian composer
Ferenc Szabó. If you like Bartók’s music, you’ll probably enjoy this book. If you dislike Bartók’s music,
you might still enjoy this, as Szabó’s music is a bit easier to get into. The folk feeling is there, but the
dissonances aren’t quite as harsh, and the harmonies are not as unconventional.

Tansman - Happy Time, Book 1: A great book to pick up once you’re nearing the end of
Mikrokosmos book 2. Many of the concepts which were learned there are applied in a (arguably)
more musical context. Start out with the slower pieces for now, the quicker pieces are more suited
once you’re at a Late Beginner level.
 Late Beginner.

As a Late Beginner, you’re one step away from the Intermediate levels. As we advance through
future levels, you’ll find that we’ll mainly be improving on previously learned concepts. You’ll not
learn to do something new per se, you’ll mainly be learning a more complex variation of something
that you learned previously. That’s what playing the piano comes down to in the end; once you got
your basics down, you’ll continually work on improving and expanding these basics. At this level,
you’ll also finally get rewarded for all the preparatory Baroque work you did.

Accompaniments will get more complex, where you’ll start to alternate harmonic intervals from a
third to a sixth. You’ll start working on voicing chords, a process where you bring out one voice (note)
of a chord over the others. Pedal points, as well as generally holding a longer note while you play
shorter notes with the same hand, will become more and more common. Use of the sustain pedal
will more often be desired but do remember to keep the pedaling tasteful!

Something you may notice, is the amount of material that’s listed compared to previous levels. This
will be a recurring theme; as you get better, more and more material becomes available for you to
learn!

Personal recommendations.

Bartók – Mikrokosmos, Book 3: The next instalment of Mikrokosmos. Compared to the first two
books, the music becomes quite a bit more complex. It’s certainly doable, and it’s also a lot more
rewarding for that reason. Like the first two books, you’ll greatly benefit from learning from this
book; it truly makes most material of a similar difficulty much easier to learn.

Bach – Notebook of Anna Magdalena Bach: Hands down the most important book to pick up if
you’re interested in playing music from the Baroque. While most pieces in this book were not
actually written by J.S. Bach himself, the quality throughout the book is still very high. This book will
be an exception in the sense that I’ll provide you with individual difficulty rankings on a piece to piece
basis. These are the rankings provided by Henle, from before they changed their ranking system.

Schumann Op. 68 – Album for the Young: With this book, Schumann started the trend of writing
high quality music specifically for the beginning student. I say beginner, and not children, because
half of this book is written specifically for the adult beginner. That’s not to say the first half of this
book should be ignored; it’s one of the greatest collections that’s available for beginners.

Tchaikovksy Op. 39 – Album for the Young: An absolute classic, considered one of the greatest
books ever written for the beginning player. Tchaikovsky was heavily inspired by Schumann’s book of
the same title. Who did a better job between the two is of course a matter of opinion, but I
personally enjoy the book by Tchaikovsky more because of the wide range of moods that are painted
throughout.
 Full list.

Bach – Notebook of Anna Magdalena Bach: To effectively play these pieces, some amount of hand
coordination must’ve first been established. That’s why it’s only at this point that I first mention this
book. These pieces are often played by the absolute beginner, but I think that’s a mistake. These
pieces may seem easy, but they ask a lot of you. In the Baroque period, the way a piece was to be
performed was often left up to the performer. Use these pieces to learn how to do exactly that.
Pieces at this level: 4, 5, 20a, 21, 22, 32.

Bartók – Mikrokosmos, Book 3: Compared to the previous book of Mikrokosmos, there’s not that
much new stuff in here. It’s more a matter of combining previously learned concepts into a single
piece and making the concepts more complex. Instead of a concept being the focal point of a piece, it
is now just another building block out of which the piece is built. That doesn’t mean that this book is
therefore easy, or redundant! In terms of relative difficulty, where we compare your skill as a player
to that which is required of you, it is unlikely that this book will feel easier than the first two of the
series. What it will do, is provide you with a confidence that lets you seamlessly transition into the
Intermediate levels of playing.

Bartók – For Children, Books 1 & 2: This book is more approachable than Mikrokosmos is, as the
pieces were written with musical purposes in mind (and not the pedagogical purposes of
Mikrokosmos). It’s also a great book for those with small hands, as Bartók never wrote a harmonic
interval larger than a 7th.

Grechaninov Op. 98 – Children’s Book: The easiest of many books that Grechaninov wrote for
beginners. His late-Romantic style is easy on the ear, making his music a good choice for those who
enjoy playing Tchaikovsky and Kabalevsky (or enjoy listening to Rachmaninov and Medtner).

Gurlitt Op. 140 – Album for the Young

Gurlitt Op. 205 – Little Flowers

Kadosa – 55 Small Piano Pieces: A 20th-century composer who greatly admired Bartók. Similarly to
Bartók, many of his works are based on Hungarian folk music. Don’t bother picking up this book if
you don’t enjoy Bartók, for his harmonies are just as unconventional. If you do enjoy this type of
music, this book may prove a good alternative to the previously mentioned books by Türk and
Hässler.

Koechlin Op. 208 – 12 Petites Pièces faciles: Koechlin wrote a lot of music, but sadly only one book
for the beginning student. The one book that he wrote, though, is of exceptionally high quality. These
pieces really benefit from being relatively easy to those who learn them. Very lyrical writing, with a
large amount of counterpoint.

Mozart – 25 Early Pieces: This is a book published by the ABRSM, which is a collection of Mozart’s
earliest works (all written before he was 10 years of age). The pieces are taken from the Nannerl
Notebuch (written by his father, Leopold) and from the London Sketchbook. Do not underestimate
the difficulty of these pieces, and don’t feel too bad if you can’t immediately play what Mozart
composed when he was five. Great primers for more difficult works by Mozart, and great for their
historical significance.
Schumann Op. 68 – Album for the Young: You may have expected this book to show up at earlier
difficulty levels. I think, however, that the difficulty of the easiest pieces from this book is often
underestimated. The pieces are pretty much sorted by difficulty.

Takács – For Me: Very charming collection by 20th century composer Takács. You’ll find elements of
folk music from around the world, as well as other small character pieces. His writing seems more
Late-Romantic than truly 20th century, making it a very approachable book.

Tchaikovksy Op. 39 – Album for the Young: Note that the difficulty of the pieces varies widely, and
that the pieces are not sorted by difficulty. Be careful to stick to the easiest pieces for now (The Sick
Doll and Old French Song).
 Early Intermediate.

A beginner no more! Sure, you may have only between one and three years of playing experience at
this point, but you are infinitely more comfortable when you sit down behind the keys than back
when you started. You’ll see this translate into the selection of pieces at this level; they continue to
get more demanding, both in terms of technical requirements and in being able to execute them
musically. You’ll also start noticing more and more your ability to play at a faster tempo while
remaining in control of your dynamics. Playing quick is only desired if you can manage it without
sounding like a robot, and you’re becoming more and more human in that regard.

You’ll find that the amount of hand movement during phrases will start to increase quite drastically
from this point. You’re not quite jumping across octaves just yet, but your forearms will get a lot
busier. In between phrases, there will be plenty of movement across more than one octave. When
this happens, it is of course okay to look down at your hands to ensure 100% accuracy.

For the Intermediate levels, it’s important to note that I’ll start sorting works more by their average
difficulty, and less based on the easiest pieces in a book. This is done for several reasons. First,
because you should’ve gotten more confident in assessing the difficulty of a piece compared to your
own abilities. Second, because there is a scarcity of quality material at the Beginner levels which just
isn’t there at the Intermediate levels. It makes sense that writing quality music is easier if you have
more tools at your disposal. Lastly, because I’m still progressing through these levels myself, you can
expect these lists to become more accurate as time goes on.

Personal recommendations.

Burgmüller Op. 100 – 25 Easy and Progressive Studies: A true classic of the Intermediate repertoire.
While it’s strictly speaking a book of 25 etudes, these pieces could just as well be called character
pieces. An instant favourite of many, you almost owe it to yourself to learn at least a few pieces from
this book. With its difficulty progression, you’ll get to learn from it through all four of the
Intermediate levels.

Takács Op. 111 – From Far Away Places: An amazing collection, which really should be much better
known than it is. A collection of folk music from around the world. From Iceland to Indonesia, and
from Japan to England.

Full list.

Bach – Notebook of Anna Magdalena Bach: Listed here are all the pieces that had a difficulty ranking
of 1/2 (Henle). The pieces that are specified also apply to the Intermediate level, which is why the
next mention of this book is at Advanced Intermediate. Pieces at this level: 3, 7, 9, 10, 14, 15, 36.

Baroque Keyboard Pieces, Book 1: The first instalment of a series published by the ABRSM. Contains
a large selection of keyboard works from the Baroque. Lots of different composers, spanning the
early 17th century to halfway through the 18th century. Especially valuable for the detailed historically
accurate performance notes added by the editor. Worth picking up if you wish to play more Baroque
but less from the Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach, or if you want to broaden your horizons in
general.

Bartók – Ten Easy Pieces: The order of difficulty, as provided by the editor: 1, 3, 2, 8, 0, 4, 6, 5, 9, 7,
10. Note: 0 is the piece called ‘Dedication’. Also note that especially the last piece is a very advanced
piece.

Burgmüller Op. 100 – 25 Easy and Progressive Studies

Clementi Op. 36 – 6 Piano Sonatinas: A classic. At this point, you should be able to learn the first
Sonatina from the album. At every increase in level, the next two Sonatinas become available, so by
the time you’re at a Late Intermediate level, you’re ready to tackle No. 6. If you’re interested in
music from the Classical period, you should pick this one up.

Goedicke Op. 36 – 60 Easy Piano Pieces, Book 2: Goedicke, sometimes written as Gedike, was a
Russian composer. His style is somewhat of a mix of the more traditional Russian Late-Romantic style
with a bit of a personal, 20th century twist. This book contains 30 pieces written with educational
purposes while also being great musically.

Grechaninov Op. 123 – Glass Beads

Haydn Hob. IX/8 & Hob. IX/10 – 24 Minuets: Published by the ABRSM, but also to be found online
for free by looking for the Hob. numbers. The easier pieces from this set are suited for this level. The
progression of difficulty is not very steep, though. You should be able to learn most of this book by
the time you’re at an Intermediate level.

Khachaturian – Children’s Album I & II: Of both books, the first 3 pieces should be doable at this
point, but after it gets more difficult very quickly. Towards the end of both books, you’re looking at
some Advanced material. Worth picking up if you’re a fan of the big Russian composers.

Persichetti – Little Mirror Book: In this book, the left hand and right hand mirror one another,
playing in contrary motion all throughout the book. The result sounds very interesting, but it’s also
quite modern. Make sure Persichetti is your cup of tea before you pick this up.

Persichetti Op. 57 – Parades for Piano

Persichetti Op. 60 – Little Piano Book

Rebikov - The Christmas Gift: Rebikov was another Russian composer who wrote some beautiful
music in a Late-Romantic style.

Reinecke Op. 136: A sonatina album, but not in the traditional Classical style in which they are most
often presented. Good sounding pieces, with a difficulty progression which carries over three levels.

Salter – Easy Going Pieces: Salter was a prominent editor of piano music, as well as a composer.
These pieces, while meant for beginners, are harder than they look, which is why they didn’t end up
in the Beginner levels. They are quite charming, though, worth picking up if you want something
modern.

Schickele – In My Nine Lives: By the composer commonly known as P.D.Q. Bach, a collection of ten
pieces which illustrate his love of cats. The pieces are charming, as are the drawings that accompany
each piece, though the music is a bit unconventional at times. Some will be very easy at this point,
but I decided to list it here because you’ll be able to learn the entire book at this point.
Shostakovich Op. 69 – Children’s Notebook: Another book by one of the greatest Russian composers
of the 20th century, the only work that Shostakovich wrote specifically for the beginning player. In
fact, he wrote it to teach his daughter how to play. The music is exceptionally good and typical
Shostakovich. Worth picking up if you like Shostakovich; you’ll not be able to learn much more by his
hand for quite some time.

Takács Op. 111 – From Far Away Places

Tansman – For Children, Books 1, 2, & 3: While there’s some difficulty progression within each book,
the majority should be doable at this point.

Tansman – Happy Time, Book 2

 Intermediate.

You’ll continue to get more comfortable expressing a melodic line while also holding down a note
with the same hand. Arpeggios become an increasingly common feature. Overall, music will simply
get denser, meaning that you’ll be doing more things at the same time.

Personal recommendations.

Bartók – Mikrokosmos, Book 4: I guess you saw this one coming. This is the last book from this series
which was written with purely educational purposes in mind.

Bloch – Enfantines: A book that should be much better known than it is, contains some exceptionally
beautiful works. I like comparing this book to Schumann’s Kinderszenen, but then Impressionistic and
much more approachable in terms of difficulty.

Prokofiev Op. 65 – Music for Children: If you’re a fan of Prokofiev, you should pick this one up, as it’s
the easiest material that he wrote by a country mile.

Full list.

Bartók – Mikrokosmos, Book 4: It continues where Book 3 left off. The new stuff that you’ll learn is
how to play several complex things all at once. On their own, you’re likely to have come across most
things in this book but put together it will be far from easy. Since this is a recurring theme in music at
and beyond this level, it’s definitely smart to get used to this quickly.

Beach Op. 36 – Young People’s Album

Bloch – Enfantines

Franck – L’Organiste: While not originally written for piano, as the title might suggest, these pieces
are exceptionally well suited for the piano.

Fuchs Op. 32 – Youthful Sounds: Both books by Fuchs are what you could call typical Romantic
material. He was greatly admired by Brahms, and taught, among others, Sibelius and Mahler.

Fuchs Op. 47 – Children’s Album

Grechaninov Op. 133 – Andrusha’s Album

Grechaninov Op. 139 – Album Leaves

Grechaninov Op. 141 – Nina’s Album

Grechaninov Op. 150 – Arabesques

Jones – Keyboard Dances: A selection published by the ABRSM. Like seems to be the case with many
Baroque centred collections, the difficulty within this book varies widely.
Kirchner Op. 55 – New Scenes of Childhood: Yet another album inspired by Schumann’s
Kinderszenen.

Poot – Six Petites Pièces Récréatives: Poot wrote in a fairly traditional style. You hear that it’s 20 th
century, but you’re not scratching your head trying to make sense of it. His music is not well-known,
but worth exploring.

Previn – Impressions For Piano: Highly dissonant writing, heavily inspired by jazz. Includes pieces
such as ‘Parade of the Penguins’ and ‘The Out-of-Tune Band’.

Prokofiev Op. 65 – Music for Children

Rebikov Op. 31 – Silhouettes

Rebikov Op. 37 – Pictures for Children

Scott – Zoo

Swinstead – Fancy Free

Swinstead – The Young Idea

Tansman – Happy Time, Book 3

 Advanced Intermediate.

Baroque Keyboard Pieces, Book 2

Bach – Little Preludes and Fughettas: After you’ve learned a selection of material from the Notebook
for Anna Magdalena, you’re ready for your next step into the music Bach. Unlike the Notebook,
everything here is actually written by J.S. Bach. A step up in difficulty from the Notebook but given
your (presumed) familiarity with the Baroque style they are doable. Learn a selection of pieces from
this book to prepare yourself for the Two-Part Inventions.

Bach – Notebook of Anna Magdalena Bach: Listed here are all the pieces that had a difficulty ranking
of 2 (Henle). The pieces that are specified also apply to the Late Intermediate level. Pieces at this
level: 8b, 12, 16, 18, 20b, 24, 29.

Beach Op. 25 – Young People’s Carnival

Benda – 34 Sonatinas: A collection of short, single movement Sonatinas. The ABRSM has published a
selection of 12 of them.

Diabelli Op. 168 – Seven Sonatinas

Dussek Op. 19 – Six Sonatinas: A great set to work on if you’re done or almost done with Clementi
Op. 36. Despite these Sonatinas being only 2 movements a piece, they are about as long as those by
Clementi.

Guilmant Op. 48 – Six Short Pieces: Guilmant was a Romantic composer who wrote a lot of sacred
works (for organ and for choir). This is something you clearly hear in these pieces.

Hook Op. 12 – Twelve Sonatinas: Similar to the set by Dussek. Every Sonatina has only two
movements, though they aren’t as long.

Kirnberger – A Miscellany of Dances: Kirnberger was a student of J.S. Bach, who wrote a lot of music
with educational and pedagogical purposes in mind. These dances are no exception in that regard.
This book is a publication by the ABRSM, which contains a selection of 25 of his works.

Kirchner Op. 62 – Miniatures: This book contains fifteen 1-2 page pieces in a distinctly Romantic
style.

Kullak Op. 62 & Op. 81 – Scenes from Childhood: I group these two works, because in terms of both
difficulty and thematically, these works are very similar. Another collection of Scenes from
Childhood. Borderline Late Intermediate.

Loeillet – Ten Keyboard Pieces: A selection published by the ABRSM. Loeillet was a Baroque
composer. While not that well-known, his music is worth looking into if you like music from that
time.

Myslivecek – Six Easy Divertimentos: A selection published by the ABRSM. Mozart admired
Myslivecek’s music, which should give you enough of a reason to give these a try if you like the music
from the early Classical period.

Nielsen Op. 11 – Humorous Bagatelles: Considered the greatest Danish composer of all time, his
Romantic style is rather unique. Consider Salter – Easy Going Pieces (Early Intermediate) to prep for
this book.
Persichetti – Four Arabesques

Reinhold Op. 39 - Miniatures: A collection of two dozen Late-Romantic character pieces.

Rose – Three Birthday Sonatinas

Shostakovich – Dances of the Dolls: A collection of dances from various works. They sound easier
than they really are. Very charming, and very much Russian.
 Late Intermediate.

Concone Op. 24 – 25 Melodic Studies: Worth picking up if you’re done with the Burgmüller etudes,
want to get started on the Heller etudes, but find yourself not quite ready for them.

Glière Op. 43 - Eight Easy Pieces: Glière was a Russian composer heavily inspired by the Russian
Romantic tradition. Contrary to what you may think from reading the title of the book, the pieces
within are not easy. They should be doable, though, at this point, and they’re absolutely gorgeous
works.

Gounod – Funeral March of a Marionette and Other Pieces: Gounod wrote very little for piano, but
what he wrote was of very high quality. This collection, published by the ABRSM, includes his most
well-known piece (the Funeral March) and a selection of nine other pieces.

Granados Op. 1 – Stories of the Young: The difficulty of this book varies widely. There are two or
three pieces which are closer to Intermediate, while others are of an Advanced difficulty. That’s why
I ranked this book somewhere in the middle.

Grieg Op. 12 – Lyric Pieces: His easiest collection of Lyric Pieces. A couple are quite a bit harder than
the rest (Nos. 4 and 7, mainly).

Heller Op. 138 – Album for the Young: Heller’s Album for the Young is his first entry on this list. This
book is just a hair easier than his easiest book of etudes. Compared to the Music for Children type of
books that other composers wrote it’s an exceptionally challenging book, though.

Hofmann – 17 Miscellaneous Pieces: A collection by the ABRSM of his easiest works. Includes works
from his Op. 11, 37, 77, 85, and 87.

Hummel – Sixteen Short Pieces: A collection by the ABRSM of his easiest works. A contemporary of
Beethoven, pupil of Mozart, and (former) piano virtuoso. Stylistically, he sits somewhere between
Classical and Beethoven.

Kuhlau Op. 88 – Four Sonatinas

Mendelssohn Op. 72 – Six Christmas Pieces

Mozart – Viennese Sonatinas: If you’re interested in learning Mozart’s sonatas, it might not be a bad
idea to first try a few of these. Quality is as high as you’d expect from Mozart.

Telemann – Fantasias: Telemann wrote 36 Fantasias for keyboard. The difficulty varies greatly. At
this point, you should be able to learn the easiest ones.
 Advanced and beyond.

Because the purpose of this list is, for now, to break down the difficulty of the easier works of the
piano repertoire, I’ve decided against specifying the harder pieces by difficulty. The fact that I’m still
some way’s away from this level of playing also might have something to do with it.

Full list.

Bach – Two-Part Inventions: This set of keyboard compositions is the gateway to Bach's Fugues and
a necessary starting point for anyone looking to play Bach's more advanced pieces.

Fibich – Moods, Impressions, and Reminiscences: Fibich, a Czech composer who lived during the
second half of the 19th century, wrote 376 of these pieces. He wrote them for a pupil of his with
whom he was madly in love. He wrote in a very unique style, one that you would expect to find
perhaps fifty years later.

Gade Op. 19 - Aquarelles

Glière Op. 47 – Twelve Sketches

Grieg Op. 3 – Poetic Tone-Pictures

Lyadov – Preludes, Trifles and Other Pieces: A collection by the ABRSM of his easiest works.

Moszkowski – Thirteen Romantic Pieces: A collection by the ABRSM of his easiest works.

Schumann Op. 99 – Bunte Blätter

Schumann Op. 124 - Albumleaves

Schütt – Nineteen Romantic Pieces: A collection by the ABRSM of his easiest works.

Tcherepnin – Sunny Day