Piabase difficulty scores are shown on a 1-100 scale and grouped into the six levels below.
The base difficulty score is calculated using AI-assisted analysis from multiple perspectives, including technical difficulty and interpretive complexity. This score is only a guideline, and perceptions may vary from person to person.
The first stage of learning piano, focused on becoming familiar with the instrument. Players develop a sense of rhythm, basic finger movement, and simple musical expression while enjoying their first experiences at the piano. This level mainly includes beginner method books and introductory repertoire.
A stage where players begin performing complete pieces while building a solid technical foundation. Basic scales, chords, phrasing, and musical expression become increasingly important. Typical repertoire includes elementary teaching pieces and early Burgmüller studies.
A stage where technique and musical expression develop together, allowing for a much broader repertoire. Players are expected to balance multiple voices, shape musical phrases, and demonstrate greater expressive control. This level represents the core intermediate repertoire.
An advanced stage where technical mastery and musical refinement become equally important. Many works at this level are studied by advanced pianists and students preparing for music college entrance examinations. Artistic interpretation and consistency become essential alongside technique.
A highly advanced stage requiring exceptional technical ability and mature musical interpretation. Many pieces at this level appear in recitals and competitions, demanding both technical precision and artistic depth. They are frequently studied by advanced conservatory students and aspiring professional pianists.
The highest level in the Piabase difficulty scale. These works require exceptional virtuosity, profound musical understanding, structural awareness, endurance, and artistic maturity. Frequently performed in major international competitions, they remain among the greatest challenges even for accomplished pianists.
Piabase shows difficulty as a Technique score and describes each piece’s musical character with a five-level Musicality rating.
The technique score is the main difficulty score. Musicality helps show whether the piece requires especially deep musical shaping, singing quality, phrasing, and structural awareness.
Technique evaluates the pure playing skills required to perform the piece.
Examples of evaluation factors
For example, Chopin’s Etudes, Rachmaninoff’s Etudes-tableaux, Liszt’s Transcendental Etudes, and modern works by composers such as Messiaen and Ligeti tend to receive high technique scores.
Musicality is shown on a five-level scale based on how strongly the piece demands musical expression, singing quality, phrasing, and interpretation.
Examples of evaluation factors
For example, Chopin, Schumann, Brahms, and Rachmaninoff often require a high level of musicality.
Piabase applies the same evaluation approach to modern works as it does to other repertoire.
Modern works often require complex rhythms, extended techniques, advanced reading ability, sound design, and colorful sonorities. These are mainly evaluated as technical elements.
At the same time, because these works are not always centered on singing melodies, rubato, or phrasing in the way many Romantic works are, their musicality rating may be moderate even when their technique score is high.
Piabase does not define difficulty simply as “pieces where the fingers move fast.”
Difficulty is shown primarily through technique, while musicality indicates the interpretive depth required by the work.
Piabase sets difficulty using a consistent standard that considers the characteristics of each work, including differences in period and style such as Romantic, Impressionist, and modern repertoire.
