Levels of Pieces?

[bluemuse]

Hi, I'm new here...sorry if this is in the wrong category.

So I was browsing this website and I noticed that there are difficulty levels for pieces. My question is, how are these levels decided? Because I think some are inaccurate. e.g. Chopin Nocturne Op. 9 No. 3 is much harder than Op. 9 No. 2 but both are listed as level 7.

thanks

[mjames]

*sigh* It's like deja vu 24/7 on this site

If you take a look at the score for both pieces you'll realize that they each have their own differences. What 'levels' usually mean is that someone who's a 'level 7' pianist has the necessary knowledge and skills to play the work of interest to a decent level. It does not mean that:

"if you can play one piece from level X you can play all of them" or  "all pieces of this grade are equally challenging"

Not even close. Especially for people who aren't trained properly, ie people who think they're getting better just because they played one or two 'hard pieces'. It doesnt work like that. If you took the time to actually look at the score, you'll notice that no. 3 further elaborates on the difficulties of no.2 like excessive ornamentation and the scale runs.

So my advice is, instead of looking at the 'grade' of the piece, look at the score and see if you can handle it. If you're unable to evaluate your own strengths and weaknesses then chances are, you're not ready for it.  

'Grades' are not the law, especially pianostreet grades.

[bluemuse]

Hello @mjames,

Thank you for the informative response. I was just curious because I played the Op. 9 No. 3 nocturne as well as another piece that PS lists as 8+, but I found the nocturne to be harder. Thanks for clearing things up! 

[kevonthegreatpianist]

Pianostreet grades are made up, I think. For example, Chopin's Berceuse is BY NO FRICK WAY as easy as his c# minor Nocturne.

IMO, I'll rate the Nocturnes this way.

Late Intermediate:
-Op.9 No.1
-Op.9 No.2
-Op.15 No.3
-Op.37 No.1
-Op.48 No.2
-Op.55 No.1
-Op.72 No.1
-Nocturne in c# minor
-Nocturne in c minor

Early Advanced:
-Op.15 No.1
-Op.15 No.2
-Op.27 No.1
-Op.27 No.2
-Op.32 No.1
-Op.32 No.2
-Op.37 No.2
-Op.55 No.2
-Op.62 No.1
-Op.62 No.2

Advanced:
-Op.9 No.3
-Op.48 No.1
-Nocturne Oubliee in c# minor (I'm not making this up)

[outin]

Pianostreet grades are made up, I think. For example, Chopin's Berceuse is BY NO FRICK WAY as easy as his c# minor Nocturne.

Of course not, but the grades here kind of end at 8 (+). So this means that pieces grade 7 are playable by most late intermediate pianists, 8 are considered rather advanced and 8+ is for the proper pianists only

And then it is also about everyone's personal skills and strengths...so the grades will never be an accurate estimate of difficulty for every individual student.