Explanações is a short contemporary character piece by Luciano Tavares. It focuses on gentle melodic development and clear phrasing.
At Henle 2 this is a beginner-level piece, where steady coordination between the hands is the main hurdle. The main demands: a true singing tone, with the melody floating above the accompaniment; precise articulation — the difference between crisp and blurred is the piece; and chord voicing — bringing out one note inside a handful of others.
Maintain a singing tone while balancing the melodic line against the accompaniment.
Comparable difficulty and character — good candidates for what to learn next.
A level or two down with the same spirit — ideal if this piece is still out of reach.
Where this piece's skills lead: slightly harder works making similar technical demands.
Lesser-known works by the same hand, at a comparable level.
Explanações 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 Explanações lasts about 3 minutes.
Explanações 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 Albumblatt für Clara Schumann by Johannes Brahms, Bright Eyes by Florence Price, Christmas lullaby, EG 155 by Edvard Grieg — see the full similar-pieces list on this page.