What Makes Piano Music “Advanced”?

Hallmarks of Advanced Piano Music

How Complex is the Technique?

Many method books and programs would consider you “advanced” if you can:

• Play your scales accurately at a decent pace in both major and minor keys and multiple octaves
• Play major and minor arpeggios in multiple octaves fluently (major and minor)
• Have basic music theory knowledge
• Be able to sight read early intermediate piano music
• Play piano music at roughly the level of Fur Elise (many people incorrectly label Fur Elise as “intermediate”)

ABRSM levels 7-8 are a decent barometer mark.

One of the most obvious markers of advanced piano music is the technical difficulty involved in performing it. Beginner piano pieces focus on basic skills like five finger patterns, simple scales, straightforward rhythms, easy key signatures, and perhaps even blocked chords in the left hand. See Faber books 1 and 2 for examples of beginner piano music. Furthermore, beginner piano music is mostly stepwise, and there probably won’t be skips larger than a 3rd (intervallic).

Piano music may be considered advanced due to:

• Speed
• Challenging key signatures or accidentals
• Complex or mixed meter
• Large intervallic leaps

Advanced piano music will often require the pianists to play and balance multiple voices (polyphony), which requires significant finger independence. Here is a nice collection of titles from Hal Leonard that would be labeled “early advanced.” In books like these, you may get selected preludes and fugues from Bach, Beethoven’s early sonatas, or selected movements from larger works like the Moonlight Sonata or Schumann’s Fantasiestücke.

From there, the waters get murkier. Deux Légendes by Liszt is firmly an advanced work, and it is often played at the college or graduate school level. It is not often played by professional pianists because it isn’t as challenging to interpret as various late Beethoven sonatas, Chopin Concertos, or Prokofiev/Bartok, for instance. You could say the Deux Légendes is relatively simple because of how many scales are involved, although it is impressive.

Professional-level works (meaning, even professionals would be impressed if you played it very well) may include things like:

• Bartok piano concertos
• Prokofiev piano concertos
• Chopin’s Opus 10 No. 2 Etude

A skilled teacher will be able to guide you.

Depth of Musical Expression

As mentioned above, the musical element of a piece also matters. It’s not all blazing fast scales and arpeggios.

Take many of Debussy’s pieces, for instance. They aren’t as technically challenging as Bartok, but they are challenging to interpret. You will need to subdue the accompaniment, plot out which notes deserve more volume, master the sostenuto and damper pedals, and communicate the actual melody while many other items are going on. This is not easy. Many intermediate pianists can physically play the notes, but only an advanced pianist can really make the music sing.

There is Not Really Any Such Thing as “Advanced”

Jazz pianists, church musicians, classical pianists, rock keyboard players and so forth all have different ideals. There is no such thing as “advanced” across the board. This blog is really exploring the concept of an “advanced” pianist from a classical perspective. Also, there isn’t a goal post you’ll be trying to reach with an “advanced” label on it. You will always have room to improve!

Take Piano Lessons and See Where You Stand

A skilled piano teacher can assess your level and give you ways to improve. We help our students sight read, play with great technique, learn show pieces, and more! For piano lessons in the Upper East Side or elsewhere in NYC, please get in touch.