How to find music for your skill level is one of the most difficult challenges when learning music. If you choose music that’s too easy, then you won’t really be challenging yourself. And your skills won’t grow. If you choose music that is too hard you won’t actually get better, just struggle.
What does music in the same skill level mean
It may seem obvious when you find music for your skill level but there are a few things to consider.
Sometimes you could be going too easy on yourself. Consider if the music actually takes skill from you to play. Having a piece be easy to play is fine but if there isn’t a challenge then there is no skill involved. When you get to a high level of proficiency most music will be easy to play. Then the challenge is in memorizing as much as you can. That helps you internalize it.
Without a challenge you won’t grow any new skill. Something that’s the same skill level doesn’t mean no challenge, just that it’s not all challenge. If you can play something flawlessly the first time you look at it, then it’s beneath your skill level. If you can barely get through the first few bars then it’s beyond your skill level. The key is finding that’s the right mix of challenge and comfort-ability.
Having music that challenges you but that you also enjoy is an important part of being prepared for music lessons. Just as your teacher does not know every song ever written, they also do not know what would appeal to you and challenge you. As a good music student, it is important that you embrace this responsibility personally.
Same Artist / Composer / Songwriter
One way to find music for your skill level is to try and find other songs by the same artist/composer/songwriter.
You already know you like one song and you’ve been able to play it. Try checking out the rest of the songs on the album that it’s from. Odds are you will like them and they will be the same difficulty. Then see if they have other albums that you like. Learn those songs too.
Same Era
Another way to find music for your skill level is to look for other songs from that same era.
Baroque/Classical piano pieces are all pretty similar in style. So are 50s Doo-Wop songs. What will change the most is the complexity of the songs. And that change will usually be based on the writer/composer. Music that is very popular tends to mimic to each other. That is why it’s considered an era/trend.
Compilation Books, Best of Books
Another way to find music for your skill level is to look for collections that other people have assembled.
You can find these wherever you find music books ( library, music store, online ). These will be things like “Easy Piano” or “Classical Greatest Hit”. You can even find them for “Doo-Wop’s greatest hits” and “Alt 90s greatest hits”.
So these may be organized by instrument (guitar, piano, etc), genre (classical, rock, etc) or era (50s Rock, 90s Rock, Classical, Romantic).
Recommendations from trusted sources
A way to find music for your skill level that can sometimes be solid is to ask other musicians with similar tastes for recommendations.
This could be a close associate like friends or family members. Maybe another player you meet at school or on the street. A friendly clerk at a music or record store may have some good suggestions. Sometimes music writers will mention other bands / musicians in relation to the music you’re looking for. You can also check out music history books about that era for similar bands. Or even a listening guide if one is available. You could also try blogs and looking on Google. The only thing is: how do you search for that? Maybe “artists similar to ____”?
Magazines of that genre
Maybe one of the best ways to find music for your skill level is to look for genre magazines that have featured songs by the artist you’re looking for.
Usually these magazines have a reputation for good, popular music that people want to play. And they usually include a smattering of things at different skill levels. Even if you may not like all the bands featured in an issue, you’ll probably be able to play everything that’s listed. If it’s contemporary rock music, Guitar Player Magazine or Guitar World are good places to look. If you are into acoustic guitar music, Acoustic Guitar Magazine is a good spot. If you are into Blue Grass music, you can try Blue Grass magazine. Blues, Blues magazine. Check their archives / manifests to look back in previous issues to find other artists to get music from.
Billboard Music Chart ( who was popular at the same time )
If you are looking for more ways to find music for your skill level, you could always try to look at music that was popular at the same time as the music you already have.
One way to do this is with a Billboard Music Charts from around the same year as the music. Or by going to Wikipedia. I would recommend looking at one or two years around it ( so if the song you have was released in 1992, then look at 1991, 1990 then 1993, 1994 ) because popular music tends to mimic itself and run in trends.
Sheet Music Collections
Another way to find music for your skill level is to look for collections of sheet music that feature the same music you already know.
Something such as Alt 90s or Easy Piano music. Usually Libraries will have these books because they contain a lot of music for one purchase and they will appeal to a lot of people. Another place that sells these types of volumes would be Guitar Center. Also a sure-fire spot would be an online bookseller like Amazon or Barnes and Noble. You can also try to find music to purchase on websites like Sheetmusicplus.com. And if you want you can always try a brick-and-mortar bookstore near you. Just Google it.