I posted this question on ABF and thought I'd pose it here as well - there are probably as many answers to this question as there are teachers but here goes anyway -

I am an adult 'returner' student - 5 years on, 40 years off, 4 months back on again - I've been studying a Handel keyboard suite, a Haydn sonata and a CHopin nocturne for about 4 months -

My question is: how do you choose a next group of pieces which are somewhat more challenging - how do you judge if a given piece is too easy, at the same level or too advanced? Does one try to select works with a particular technical challenge such as rapid passages or octaves or jumps?

I could make a list of all the pieces I would enjoy learning and then try to rank them in terms of 'difficulty' (assuming that is even possible - the Haydn sonata I'm studying now is the hardest thing I've ever studied although i would never have thought that when I first looked at it.)

Be curious what your thoughts are

This is a process that will get clearer for you as you play more, become more familiar with the available repertoire, and develop a deeper knowledge of music history and the composers you're working with.

All of the possibilities you mentioned are good ones (choosing pieces for specific technique work, choosing pieces you'd like to learn, trying them out at the piano to see what they're really like.) Obviously a teacher (if you're taking lessons) will be able to help guide you and offer repertoire suggestions as well.

I always have something I love in my practice. Playing what you love gets you into a great mental space to do some work on a meatier piece.

There are also graded (ranked) repertoire lists available that could help you decide where to move next.

Best, and happy practicing!

Kim

I am pro teacher or coach to learn things in general. They are the only short cut (if there is such a thing) to mastery.

That being said, there are music books available at certain levels. An example would be Bastien who I think has up to 3 intermediate levels and even within the book are pieces of varying difficulty. The Bastien are the more recognizable classical crowd pleasers.

I also thought I saw somewhere on this forum a new compilation from Hal Leonard-that's another example.

Using books with piano literature by levels is probably the easiest way to start at your skill level and gradually work your way up in difficulty.

I really like the compilation of pieces in the Bastien series. I have Piano Literature for the Intermediate Grades vol. 3 and Piano Literature for the Early Advanced Grades vol. 4 that I really like. The series starts with First Piano Repertoire Album, then Piano Lit. Vol.'s 1-4. There is also a First Bach Album in the series.

Another series is Masterwork Classics in levels 1-10 (all piano literature). The books come with a cd.

Also, I can't find my copy right now but another series is Everybody's Favorite Little Masterpieces (I think is the name).

When I was in college then the music department had a list of repertoire as a guide for what pieces would fall under what order of difficulty. It wasn't an all-encompassing list but enough to give an idea. Perhaps you could contact a music school or university's music dept. and ask if they have such a list and if you could obtain a copy.