Which piano piece to play for your level

How Noctave measures difficulty

Each piece of the catalog has a grade from 1 to 10, shown as four levels, in the colors of the app: Easy (1 to 3), Intermediate (4 to 6), Advanced (7 to 9) and Master (10), the level of virtuoso pieces. The page of each score also says what makes it hard, measured on the score itself, repeats included, at the written tempo: speed, left-hand work, octaves, wide stretches, ornaments, cross-rhythms.

Several well-known themes come in two versions: an easy version, arranged for Noctave, and the original. Start with the first, then move on to the second.

Easy: 15 pieces

One-hand melodies, well-known songs, then the first two-hand minuets. Few notes at a time, a simple rhythm, a hand that moves little.

• Ode to JoyLudwig van Beethoven · 38 sEasy · 1/10
• Au clair de la luneTraditional · 38 sEasy · 2/10
• Gymnopédie No. 1 (easy version)Erik Satie · 1 min 37 sEasy · 2/10
• Prelude in C (easy version)Johann Sebastian Bach · 50 sEasy · 2/10
• Minuet in G major, BWV Anh. 114Christian Petzold · 1 min 36 sEasy · 3/10
• Melody, Op. 68 No. 1Robert Schumann · 1 min 16 sEasy · 3/10

All easy pieces

Intermediate: 42 pieces

Minuets in minor keys, Burgmüller's melodic studies, the sonatinas of Clementi and Kuhlau, Schumann's Album for the Young, short preludes by Chopin. The two hands become independent, the hand moves across the keyboard, dynamics matter.

• Prelude in C major, BWV 846Johann Sebastian Bach · 2 min 07 sIntermediate · 4/10
• Arabesque, Op. 100 No. 2Friedrich Burgmüller · 59 sIntermediate · 5/10
• Sonatina Op. 36 No. 1 · I. AllegroMuzio Clementi · 2 min 18 sIntermediate · 5/10
• Gymnopédie No. 1Erik Satie · 3 min 15 sIntermediate · 5/10
• Prelude in E minor, Op. 28 No. 4Frédéric Chopin · 1 min 41 sIntermediate · 6/10
• Dreaming (Träumerei), Op. 15 No. 7Robert Schumann · 2 min 09 sIntermediate · 6/10

All intermediate pieces

Advanced: 42 pieces

Für Elise in full, The Entertainer, Mozart's sonatas, Chopin's Nocturnes, Debussy's Clair de lune. Long pieces, wide chords, fast passages, the pedal.

• Für Elise, WoO 59Ludwig van Beethoven · 2 min 36 sAdvanced · 7/10
• The EntertainerScott Joplin · 4 min 13 sAdvanced · 7/10
• Sonata in C major, K. 545 · I. AllegroWolfgang Amadeus Mozart · 4 min 52 sAdvanced · 7/10
• June: Barcarolle (The Seasons, Op. 37a No. 6)Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky · 5 min 27 sAdvanced · 7/10
• Nocturne in E-flat major, Op. 9 No. 2Frédéric Chopin · 3 min 15 sAdvanced · 8/10
• Clair de lune (Suite bergamasque)Claude Debussy · 4 min 42 sAdvanced · 8/10

All advanced pieces

Master: 9 pieces

The virtuoso pieces: the Fantaisie-Impromptu, Chopin's Études, Liszt's La Campanella and Hungarian Rhapsodies, the last movement of the “Moonlight” Sonata. They take long practice; listening to them and following them on the score is a pleasure already.

• Fantaisie-Impromptu in C-sharp minor, Op. 66Frédéric Chopin · 4 min 14 sMaster · 10/10
• “Moonlight” Sonata, Op. 27 No. 2 · III. Presto agitatoLudwig van Beethoven · 6 min 45 sMaster · 10/10
• “Revolutionary” Étude in C minor, Op. 10 No. 12Frédéric Chopin · 2 min 06 sMaster · 10/10
• La Campanella (Grandes études de Paganini, S. 141 No. 3)Franz Liszt · 3 min 47 sMaster · 10/10

All master pieces

The journey: a ready-made progression

In Game mode, Noctave strings together 116 levels in chapters, from the simplest to the hardest. The same piece often comes back as several levels: the right hand, the left hand, then both hands.

1. Right hand · 7 levels
2. Left hand · 5 levels
3. Both hands · 18 levels
4. First pieces · 13 levels
5. Melodic studies · 11 levels
6. Sonatinas · 15 levels
7. Romantics · 18 levels
8. Towards the Fantaisie-Impromptu · 29 levels

Chapters 1 to 3 are free. Each level opens when the previous one reaches the required accuracy.

The collections

In the Library, next to the journey, collections gather pieces around a theme, with no levels to unlock. All of them can be listened to freely; in Learning mode, with all its aids, they're played with Noctave Plus, except a few open to everyone.

• Chopin's Nocturnes21 pieces · Intermediate to advanced
• Virtuoso pieces15 pieces · Advanced to master

Is this piece within your reach?

A few landmarks before you start:

1. Listen to it while following the score: the excerpt on its page, or the playback in Noctave, which plays it in full.
2. Read the first page: if you recognize most notes without counting the lines, reading won't hold you back.
3. Try one hand alone, at half tempo, with wait mode. If, after a few sessions, each hand gets through alone at half tempo, the piece is within your reach.
4. Too hard? Choose a piece from the level below, or the easy version if there is one, and come back to it later.

Your piece isn't on the list? Add your own pieces.