Buddies is a lighthearted salon piece written by Bentley Collingwood Hilliam in a nostalgic, accessible melodic style. It is characterized by its simple harmonic structure and gentle, sentimental character.
Work on the clarity of the melody and ensuring a graceful, unhurried articulation.
Comparable difficulty and character — good candidates for what to learn next.
Buddies is rated Henle level 2 of 9 — beginner repertoire, roughly ABRSM grades 2–3. In the RCM system it corresponds to about level 3.
You should be comfortable at Henle level 2 — meaning you can already play level 1–2 pieces cleanly. Learning it one level early is possible as a stretch piece, but more than that usually leads to months of frustration.
A typical performance of Buddies lasts about 3 minutes.
Buddies is available as free public-domain sheet music on IMSLP — the score is linked directly from this page.
Pieces at a comparable difficulty and character include Andantino in A-flat major by Johann Nepomuk Hummel, Blue Rose by Frederic Knight Logan, Blumengeflüster by Franz von Blon — see the full similar-pieces list on this page.