RCM Preparatory A – Study Guide

RCM Preparatory A – Study guide

RCM Preparatory Levels

The Royal Conservatory of Music (RCM) recognized that there was often a learning gap between their Level One curriculum and popular method books designed to teach beginner students to read. They originally collected beginner pieces in their Introductory Level but recognized that the gap was still somewhat difficult for some students to breach. In recognition of that gap, they introduced the Introductory Level and then later divided it further into two Preparatory Levels: RCM Preparatory A and RCM Preparatory B.

In each 2015 Celebration Series collection, the beginner student is introduced to miniature pieces that explore the piano and what the instrument has to offer. Each piece is very short  (one or two pages), but introduces the beginner pianist to layers of learning and basic elements of playing the piano.

Study Guide – RCM Preparatory A

The RCM Preparatory A collection is full of pieces from the following composers: Dmitri Kabalevsky, Daniel Gottlob Turk, Elvina Pearce, Christine Donkin, Nancy Faber and Randall Faber, Teresa Richert, Catherine Rollin, Yvonne Adair, Dale Reubart, Dennis Alexander and Martha Mier, David Duke, Elissa Milne, John Milligan, Linda Niamath, Stephen Chatman, Boris Berlin, and Dianne Goolkasian Rahbee. Many of these composers are teachers themselves and have honed their craft in their studios.

Each piece is carefully edited and the following are found throughout the collection:

• metronome markings are given
• guided interpretation and instructions
• imaginative titles
• phrasings and articulations are clearly marked

For the exam, three pieces (including one Teacher’s Choice) are chosen from a variety of time periods.

The study guide presents selections from the RCM Preparatory A book. There is a brief composer biography, a discussion of the main concepts to be learned in each piece, a little bit of advice on how to perform or teach the piece, and a recording of the song at performance tempo.

Listening examples of RCM Preparatory A repertoire

In order to help with exam preparation, it is important that the RCM student hears their repertoire played at performance tempo, with correct notes, and attention to articulation and dynamics. As part of their preparation, I recommend that students listen to these performances frequently, to aid in their own comprehension of notes, rhythms, articulation, dynamics and as an aid to memorizing. Practice doesn’t have to happen only at the piano. You can accomplish a lot by listening to performances, looking at the music, and visually analyzing it.

The study guide pieces are presented in the order that they appear in the book. Please note that not every piece from the book is included. (Click on the link to jump to that piece).

• Let’s Waltz by Elvina Pearce
• The Haunted Harp by Christine Donkin
• The Haunted Mouse by Nancy Faber and Randall Faber
• Curious Cat by Teresa Richert
• Boots by Yvonne Adair
• Jazz Blast by Nancy Faber and Randall Faber
• Shadows by Dennis Alexander and Martha Mier
• Rainbow Fish by Catherine Rollin
• Smooth and Crunchy by Elissa Milne
• Rowing Round by John Milligan
• A Skating Waltz by Boris Berlin
• Sleigh Bells by Christine Donkin

Exam Repertoire – RCM Preparatory A Level

RCM Preparatory A – Let’s Waltz – by Elvina Pearce

Elvina Pearce studied piano in NYC with Isabelle Vengerova and pedagogy with Frances Clark. She taught piano and pedagogy at Northwestern University and also served as Editor-in-Chief of Keyboard Companion Magazine.

‘Let’s Waltz’ is a graceful waltz (dance in 3/4 time) that allows the student to practice balancing the hands. In the first part of the waltz, the right hand has the legato melody and is marked forte. The accompanying left hand two-note chords are marked with staccatos and the dynamic marking pianissimo. In the second part of the song, these articulations and dynamics are reversed. This piece is good for independence of hands: one hand plays a continuous legato melody while the other hand plays short, staccato, two-note chords.

This is a good song to practice 3/4 time, making sure the student doesn’t pause at the bar line and that the downbeat is continuous. Learning to play this (slowly) with the metronome is extremely useful to help the student get the feel of that continuous quarter note beat.

Learning to remember B flats is also important to this song. You may want to show your student how to position their hands in order to reach the flats properly and play with firm fingers in order to achieve crisp staccatos.

RCM Preparatory A – The Haunted Harp by Christine Donkin

Christine Donkin is from northwest Alberta. Her compositions have a wide range of styles and forms. She studied composition at the University of Alberta and University of British Columbia. She is also a teacher, adjudicator, clinician, and arranger.

‘The Haunted Harp’ is a ghostly exploration of the upper end of a C# minor harmonic scale. Don’t let your student be intimidated by all the accidentals in the song. If you follow the given fingering for the opening bar, this is actually a good piece to teach by rote. The pattern can be explained by: three notes in each hand, LH: Black, black, white and RH: white, black, black.

It is also a good idea to go through the “roadmap” ahead of time by having the student place their hands for each hand position change (at bar 7, bar 10, and bar 11).

This is also a good piece to analyze before you even play a note. For example, have the student find all the pattern of the first bar throughout the song. Compare bars 1 and 2 with bars 3 and 4 and have them point out differences.

The sustain pedal plays an important role in this song to give the “ghostly” effect of the song. The student will also have fun shaping the crescendo and diminuendos to create waves of sound. Follow the dynamics closely!

RCM Preparatory A – The Haunted Mouse by Nancy Faber and Randall Faber

Nancy and Randall Faber are probably best known for their bestselling Piano Adventures® method series. Nancy Faber is a distinguished composer and Randall Faber performs classical piano and lectures on musical artistry and talent development.

‘The Haunted Mouse’ is a favourite of many students. This piece is an excellent piece for analyzing. Teach the student to look for patterns in this song. Compare the first two lines of the song and have them point out what is different. Make sure that the student holds notes for their notated value and pays attention to rests. This song teaches them to hold down one note while playing staccato with the other.

When memorizing this song, look at the overall patterns. Observe the dynamics — how quietly can you play the final three, low, notes? Experiment with the metronome by explaining how the metronome marking suggestion (half note equals 76 – 84) means they will learn to feel two clicks to each measure. Then double the metronome marking (quarter note equals 152 – 168) and ask them if it feels any different.

It’s fun to sing the words to your students so they get an idea of how the song should be expressed.

RCM Preparatory A – Curious Cat by Teresa Richert

Teresa Richert is a graduate of the Royal Conservatory of Music in Composition & Theory, Piano Teaching & Piano Performance.  She taught music lessons for more than 30 years and is now retired from teaching. She also presents composition and performance workshops for teachers and students across Canada.

‘Curious Cat’ is easy to memorize quickly once the pattern is analyzed. Since this piece requires several hand position shifts, I have the student skip from bar to bar and place their hands in each new hand position. I have them name the bottom note in each hand position before we start.

This piece encourages attention to articulation: slur notes versus staccato notes. When your student is ready to look at incorporating the dynamics, introduce them to having four distinct ‘steps’ of volume: mf, mp, p, pp. The piece also introduces the technique of making a large crescendo with a sudden (subito) pianissimo. This would be a good time to introduce them to the soft pedal and let them hear what the difference is between using and not using it.

 RCM Preparatory A – Boots by Yvonne Adair

Yvonne Adair was a pianist and teacher. She studied at the Royal Academy of Music in London. As a teacher, she taught privately as well as with the Training School for Music Teachers in London. Her specialty was rhythmic and aural training for children. ‘Boots’ is from a collection called “Little Dog Tales“: the story of Boots the dog, and his family.

It is a very joyful piece and it is extremely helpful to let the student know that “Boots” is the name of a dog. You can ask the student: “What do you think Boots the dog is up to?” in order to introduce imaginative interpretation. Ask them to tell the story with the music.

‘Boots’ introduces subtleties in articulation: slurs, staccatos, tenuto marks, and accents in an exciting combination. Paying attention to these different articulations provides a fun character to the melodic line.

This piece helps to underscore the importance of rhythm and counting. Practising with a metronome will help the student to have the correct pauses that are interspersed  throughout from bar 5 to the end.

Playing with both hands in the treble clef will introduce the student to keyboard geography. The last line in particular helps to underscore familiarity with the different octaves explored in the piece.

RCM Preparatory A – Jazz Blast by Nancy Faber and Randall Faber

Nancy and Randall Faber are probably best known for their bestselling Piano Adventures® method series. Nancy Faber is a distinguished composer and Randall Faber performs classical piano and lectures on musical artistry and talent development.

Jazz Blast introduces syncopation, a simple jazz scale (with flatted third and seventh notes), different articulations, and melodies that travel from hand to hand.

Slow practice, while counting eighth notes to make sure the student understands the syncopation pattern that shows up frequently (for example, in bars 2, 4 6, and 8). Practising while counting out loud and with the metronome are important to help feel the natural ‘zip’ of the piece. The student may want to count and feel the pulse in eighth notes at first, and then switch to quarter notes, and then finally half notes.

Moving from black notes to white notes, crossing over thumbs with your second finger, and resetting your hand position are some of the things that are explored in this piece. Another essential element that is learned in this piece is how to create a crescendo without altering your tempo. Again, practising with a metronome will help in this instance.

 RCM Preparatory A – Shadows by Dennis Alexander and Martha Mier

Dennis Alexander is a prolific composer and clinician and is affiliated with the Alfred Publishing Company. He taught piano and piano pedagogy for several years at the university of Montana and currently lives in Albuquerque, NM.

Martha Mier is an independent piano teacher, clinician, adjudicator, and composer of piano pieces.  She owned a piano studio in Florida for many years and is active in church music and as a professional accompanist.

‘Shadows’ is another piece that comes with lyrics. The lyrics help students to memorize the roadmap of the piece and also are useful to help guide the student’s interpretation of the song. The piece is full of fun dynamics, staccatos, accents, and accented staccatos!

Some questions I like to ask when teaching this piece: What five finger scale are you playing? (C minor) How can you make the piece sound mysterious? (observe the articulation and dynamics) What picture do you hold in your mind while you play this? Should the music be tense and suspenseful or loose and relaxed? (tense and suspenseful!) What patterns repeat? Where does your hand position change? (RH: bar 7 & bar 14). What would you do if you saw a mouse?!

RCM Preparatory A – Rainbow Fish by Catherine Rollin

Catherine Rollin is a pianist, composer, clinician and teacher of piano students. She has more than 200 published compositions and has conducted workshops worldwide. Her workshops are often about technique and how to play artistically. She is the author of Pathways to Artistry.

‘Rainbow Fish’ is a piece that uses the whole-tone scale, hand crossovers, and covers almost the whole piano (from two C’s below Middle C to 4 E’s above Middle C!)  If your student is playing on a keyboard at home, you might want to check if a) they have a sustain pedal and b) if they have enough keys to play the song!

This is an excellent piece to teach rote memorization, because it is heavily pattern-based. I often teach this song by rote so that students aren’t intimidated by the two pages–the only two-pager in the book! We often go through the roadmap: Pattern 1 (bar 1) is repeated at different octaves–how many times (three times) and ends with a two note chord. Then that whole phrase is repeated an octave lower. Then, there are three notes, by themselves, an octave below that, etc.

This is a piece that is a favourite with students because it looks and sounds so complicated. This is a good piece to emphasize good posture and good sitting position. The student needs to be in the centre of the action and lean towards the left and right when needed. Slow practice, and anticipation of hand shift positions will help the flow of the piece to be steady.

After notes and rhythm are correct, shape the phrases with the dynamics that are marked in the piece.

RCM Preparatory A – Smooth and Crunchy by Elissa Milne

Elissa Milne has been composing since the age of 6 and holds degrees in many different fields: (composition, semiotics, education, performance studies, and business administration)! Elissa began giving piano lessons when she was 14. Some of her best known piano scores are the Pepperbox Jazz series and Little Peppers books. She lives in Australia.

‘Smooth and Crunchy’ teaches the student how to master hand independence. In this piece, one hand plays smoothly (legato), while the other hand plays crunchy (staccato) at the same time. In the second half of the song, the two hands switch. It’s the musical equivalent of the old “patting your head while rubbing your tummy” trick.

When we first read through the piece, I often tackle it in stages. I like to start out with the rhythm. You can count it out, tap the rhythm on the closed lid, clap the rhythm as a duet (one person taps the RH rhythm, the other person taps out the LH rhythm, then switch). Next, we look at the notes. Watch out for F#’s! Practice moving into the different RH hand positions. Try to move around the piano using the same fingers in different pentascale positions to practice your fingering pattern.

It helps to play through it SLOWLY, first bar only, in order to get the feel of the two different articulations being played with each hand, before introducing the handshift.

RCM Preparatory A – Rowing Round by John Milligan

 RCM Preparatory A – A Skating Waltz by Boris Berlin

Boris Berlin was a Canadian pianist, music educator, arranger and composer of Russian birth. He published a large amount of material on the subject of teaching piano and taught a large number of notable pianists. He was made an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2000. He was also active as an examiner, lecturer, and festival adjudicator in Toronto.

‘A Skating Waltz’ is the second waltz offered in the RCM Preparatory Level collection. The range of this waltz covers a two octave range, slightly larger than Elvina Pearce’s ‘Let’s Waltz’ that is featured earlier in the book. This waltz does not notate the two note chord accompaniment as staccato–you can have your student experiment with whether they want to play these as staccato, or with a slightly longer touch. In any case, tradition dictates that the accompanying chords should be played detached.

Even though the dynamics are not as specific as Pearce’s Waltz, care should be taken to bring out the melody line.

Paying close attention to the suggested fingering (especially from bar 9 on) will help to have a smooth, flowing melody line. I like to show students YouTube videos of dancers dancing the waltz to give them an idea of the feel of 3/4.

RCM Preparatory A – Sleigh Bells by Christine Donkin

Christine Donkin is from northwest Alberta. Her compositions have a wide range of styles and forms. She studied composition at the University of Alberta and University of British Columbia. She is also a teacher, adjudicator, clinician, and arranger.

‘Sleigh Bells’ is a cheerful piece that uses light, crisp staccatos contrasting with smoothly flowing legato melody lines. There are quite a number of hand position shifts, but they often involve landmark notes.

The student learns to find their original hand positions quickly and use strong fingers to play two note chords together crisply.

Practising with a metronome will train the student to have a good rhythmic pulse which is at the heart of this song. It is also challenging to make the shifts in articulation (from staccato to legato) and shifts in hand position (from two note chords to smooth scale-like passages) and to do so with rhythmic precision.

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