Understanding our difficulty points system
Welcome to kziira's Piano Difficulty Catalogue! This page explains our Difficulty Points system, which helps you compare piano pieces based on technical demand. Whether you're a beginner or an advanced player, understanding this system will help you choose repertoire that matches your skill level.
How difficulty points work
Our Difficulty Points system is a relative scale where lower numbers indicate simpler physical actions at the piano, and higher numbers represent pieces requiring more coordination, speed, endurance, and physical control. A piece with twice the Difficulty Points isn't just slightly harder; it's significantly more demanding. This system allows comparison of piano music across styles and time periods, much like comparing athletic challenges.
What you can learn here
On this page, you'll gain a clear understanding of how piano difficulty can be compared in a structured way. You'll learn what makes a piece more demanding than another, how technical challenges scale as repertoire becomes harder, and where a piece sits on a continuous difficulty spectrum. Our goal is to provide you with a better mental model of piano difficulty, moving beyond simple labels or grade levels.
The advantage of difficulty points
The biggest advantage of our Difficulty Points system is consistency. Instead of relying on vague impressions, it provides a clear reference showing how demanding a piece is relative to others. This makes it easier to judge whether a work is slightly, dramatically, or entirely harder, helping you make informed decisions about repertoire based on objective measures rather than guesswork.