How do I describe the difficulty of my song?

manpreet Best Answer 2 years ago

As part of my practice and for my mini-concerts I compose arrangements to songs, most of which so far are Simon & Garfunkel songs. I also have started giving away some sheet music to some friends of mine who like a change of style or just like my arrangements. (all for personal use / a hobby, not a vocation).

Is there a way I could describe the difficulty of an arrangement, how difficult to play, or am I just stuck with "hard" or "pretty easy" (whatever those mean).

Perhaps I could rank them by how many years a person would have to practice piano before it is easy? Like, Rage Over A Lost Penny would take me over a year to master end to end at my current level, but other songs that used to be difficult are really easy.

That system might not work, but maybe there is a ranking system. How are classical pieces' difficulties described? Is there a universal ranking system with some well-known examples?