Difficulty Ratings of Your Repertoire

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I've seen a lot of "which is harder" threads on this site, but I find that they're all just general knowledge "difficulty ratings" of pieces they've never played. This way, we'll be able to see what people think through a more informed lens - as people often have opinions on difficulty that deviate from standard opinion. You can rank pieces you've played recently - polished up, learned the notes, sightread, I don't care. I just want your rankings, and if possible, why you think these pieces are the difficulties they are.

For me - easiest to hardest:

Mozart - Fantasy in D Minor (K 397): I think a lot of Mozart is inwardly emotional, and his minor key works are more delicate and simple, and need touches of subtle rubato but not too much. The piece mostly speaks for itself, especially for its lack of technical difficulties.

Bartok - Bulgarian Dance #2: Besides repeated chords and fast passagework, the patterns are quite repetitive and the piece can be learned decently in a few weeks.

Chopin - Nocturne in A-flat Major (Op. 32 No. 2): This is one of the more compositionally simple nocturnes and is easily predictable and sight-readable. It does need control but can't be too predictable, and needs delicate pedaling, however, the piece is so beautiful that it almost speaks for itself.

Mozart - Sonata in F Major (K 332) - 1st mvt: Always been a nostalgic childhood favorite and just kept sightreading till I could make it (first ~2 lines when I was 7 lol). It has tricky jumps typical of Mozart and demands utmost accuracy, but is still more forgiving than many other Mozart sonatas.

Bach - Prelude and Fugue in F-sharp Minor from Book 1 (BWV 859): Same difficulties as all the other preludes and fugues, though not quite as long. The prelude demands every note to perfectly sparkle, but isn't too taxing, while the fugue just needs to "work" ... the counterpoint here is difficult because of the four voices, but it is one of the technically easier fugues due to the tempo.

Scales: Come on guys, you have to admit that warming up (especially with cold hands) is quite a feat every practice session. Sometimes I skip them and play a nocturne or smth instead because my technique is so bad.

Chopin - Waltz in G-sharp Major (Op. 70 No. 1): I have mixed thoughts on this one. It's really easy for most of the time and is repetitive, making it even shorter to learn. But gosh, the opening figure makes it feel like the quality and perfection needed of Mozart coupled with the technical difficulties of Chopin! People say it fits under your fingers but those stretches are a PAIN to get down.

Beethoven - Sonata in F Minor (Op. 57) "Appassionata": This sonata honestly isn't that bad compared to what people say. It's basically classical technique on steroids, but demanding an emphasis on the rage it invokes rather than pushing for a balanced sound. The third movement is notorious for being difficult and it's literally just all 16th notes. The only part I have any real technical difficulties with is the big block chords at the start of the coda.

Beethoven - Sonata in C-sharp Minor (Op. 27 No. 2) "Moonlight": Unpopular opinion intensifying significantly by putting the moonlight over the appassionata. The finale really needs to be played "presto," in comparison to the Appassionata's allegro ma non troppo finale where you have room to breathe. I just can't seem to get the arpeggios right, especially the ones that cross over many black keys! Not to mention the 1st movement, which needs a lot of control to really "work" for the listener.

Liszt - Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2: I don't think this one should come as any surprise. It utilizes the full range of the piano, and while not downright impossible for me, it is not easy to get a vivacious, accurate interpretation. That being said, it's only a bit higher than the Moonlight judging on how well I can play both after several months of practice.

[jaquet]

Okay ill put some pieces ive played easiest to hardest completley in my opinion. . These are some i am studying now or recently studied them.

Debussy arabesque no 2( close wtih tocata below- only put this one lower because its much shorter)
With this you just need a good fingering a strong 4th and 5th finger and just decent finger independance (this is rated ABRSM grade

Bach tocatta and fugue in e minor
For me the second movment is very hard to play well. you need to have good finger independance and just a good understanding of all the voices and the structure of the movement and the piece. The second movment is so beautiful all the voices sing their own lines. Of course the main difficulty is the last movment but i think with some metronome practice you could learn it very quickly. (this is rated ABRSM first diploma)

Joeseph Makholm plaintive blues- this pieces middle section is the only reason why its ranked here, you need to be very accurate and need a very good fingering, but you musnt forget the style. There are also some polyrythms but they arent that difficult.(this used to be on ABRSM first diploma)


Liszt petrach sonnet 123
The main diffuclty in this piece is dynamic control, seperating the singing line from the harp like playing in the left hand. Of course the middle section is hard woth some very large and fast jumps with crescendo , but once again metronome can fix that. This piece is very good for learning how to pedal well and control dynamics and arm weight. (This is ABRSM first diploma)

Chopin Ballade no 1
This one took a while to learn maybe 6 months? I personally just believe that its not as difficult as most people believe it is. The main difficulty is in the first meno mosso section and the coda and the waltz part.
When you learn this just dont rush it and you will get great results. The main difficulty is maintaining accuracy in the coda and presenting a sound intepretation. (This is LRSM second diploma)

Liszt transcendental etude 10
This is by far one of the hardest pieces ive played due to the overlapping hands and sometimes awkward rythms. It makes me want bigger hands even though i can span an 11th. However learning the notes and getting to tempo only took about two weeks for this piece. This piece also despite being only about 5 minutes long requires quite some endurance to reach the coda without ur hands just seizing up. (This is also LRSM)

Beethoven sonata op 31 no 1
This is the hardest piece ive encountered at least for me. This is the first full beethoven sonata im learning and it has akward passages for the fingers- alot of scalic passages and alot of akward polyrhtyms. It also requires alot of accuracy due to some jumps in the left hand. I havent got to the third movement yet but the first and second movments are already a struggle for me. Its taken me nearly a month to learn one movement! (also LRSM)

[liszt-and-the-galops]

Does this include pieces that we have tried but haven't completed and/or have given up on for the time being?

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Does this include pieces that we have tried but haven't completed and/or have given up on for the time being?

Yes, actually I included some I sightread several times and felt I could play them fairly decently after a few runs through.

[liszt-and-the-galops]

Yes, actually I included some I sightread several times and felt I could play them fairly decently after a few runs through.

Alright. With that, here's a top 5 list of the pieces that I've tried at some point:
5: Fantaisie-Impromptu. Not as difficult as it sounds, but way above most of my other repertoire.

4: Tristesse. I think all of you know that I've failed this three times...

3: Preludio. I've done this at ~half tempo, and I don't plan on going any further any time soon.

2: La Campanella. My first real introduction to playing was me trying pieces that I liked that didn't realize I had no way of playing. I did this with 3 pieces that I remember off the top of my head about 1.5 years ago. Obviously, it didn't go well. Still, I made it through the first 25-ish bars (don't ask me how).

1: Double Thirds. Like La Campanella, I tried this when I first started out and had no knowledge of how to play. I've mentioned this a few times, but I broke a finger on this thing when I tried it. Enough said.