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RCM Preparatory B – Study Guide

RCM Preparatory Level

Introducing the RCM Preparatory Levels

RCM Preparatory B Level Celebration Series BookThe 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. In recognition of that gap, they introduced two introductory Levels: RCM Preparatory A and RCM Preparatory B.

RCM Preparatory B continues to introduce beginner students to miniature pieces that explore the piano and what the instrument has to offer. Each piece is slightly longer than those introduced in the Preparatory A Level, but are still limited to one or two pages of music. Students continue to learn and perfect techniques that were introduced in the earlier book.

Study Guide – RCM Preparatory B

The RCM Preparatory B collection is full of pieces from the following composers: Nancy Telfer, Anne Crosby Gaudet, Linda Niamath, Joan Hansen, Jon George, Andrew Markow, Nikolai Ljubarski, Boris Berlin, Helen Marlais, Stephen Chatman, Carol Barratt, James Hook, Muzio Clementi, Dmitri Kabalevsky, Alexander Gedike, Melody Bober, Teresa Richert, Christine Donkin, Mike Schoenmehl, Mark Mrozinski, Edwin McLean, and Chee-Hwa Tan.

As with the RCM Preparatory A collection, many of the above composers are teachers and performers. Each piece is carefully edited: metronome markings are given, 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 and styles.

The study guide presents selections from the RCM Preparatory B 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 B 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).

Exam Repertoire – RCM Preparatory B Level

RCM Preparatory B – The Rising Sun by Nancy Telfer

Nancy Telfer is a Canadian composer, born in Brampton, Ontario. She studied music education, composition, piano and voice at the University of Western Ontario. Nancy draws inspiration for her compositions from nature and the outdoors. She taught music and drama in the public school system and is also a choral conductor.

When students first look at ‘The Rising Sun”, they are often intimidated by the key signature of five flats…until they understand that every note in this piece is a black key! The title helps the student to establish the idea of a piece that is calm, peaceful, starts quietly, and ends with the brilliant rays of the risen sun.

This is a good piece to learn how to shape phrases by using the arm to lift at the end of each phrase. Learning to play the black keys with firm fingertips will help to get a good tone for each note. Good fingering is important to help achieve the smooth legato phrases.

Make sure the student thinks about the tempo of the piece before playing a single note! Think of the rhythm pattern that starts at bar 17 and use this rhythm pattern to determine your playing speed. The first bar should be counted carefully–the half notes need to be held for their full value in order for the later rhythms to be filled in properly.

The crescendo needs to be gradual. The student should experiment with how long they can “hold back” the crescendo and save the forte for the end. You can experiment with playing dynamics by controlling how deeply you play the keys, or by how much arm weight you use. What kind of sound do you make when you use gravity / what kind of sound do you make when you use force?

RCM Preparatory B – New Shoes by Linda Niamath

Linda Niamath is a Canadian composer from British Columbia. She graduated from UBC. She worked as an elementary school teacher and has written many collections of piano music for students.

‘New Shoes’ is from a collection of pieces called Surprises. An excellent example of suppressed happiness and excitement! This song works on LH legato melodies, light RH offbeat staccato accompaniment, accents, and V-I cadences with three note chords in one hand.

The student will learn to play with three dynamics: mf, mp, and f as well as using accents within the context of dynamics. 

RCM Preparatory B – Distant Chimes by Jon George

Jon George was an American composer that is remembered for helping his students learn how to think for themselves. He studied music composition at college and took piano lessons there from his future wife, Mary Gae. Jon was a master chess player, artist, author, speaker, virtuoso guitar player, and cellist.

‘Distant Chimes’ introduces the una corda pedal (soft pedal). The song provides the opportunity to discuss the pedals and their uses. Try playing the first line without using the soft pedal and then try playing the first line with the pedal. What do you notice about the difference in sound?

The main interval in this piece is the perfect fifth–pointing this out may help with the reading. It also introduces slurs that go from one hand to the other–it is important to try to make this happen evenly–you shouldn’t be able to tell when the hands switch!

This song introduces 1st and 2nd endings–in this piece, you are required to do the repeats during examinations.

Hand crossing (the third line) should be practiced slowly with a continuous motion so that they flow evenly, one hand after the other.

Be aware of the 8va signs at the end of the piece.

 RCM Preparatory B – The Calico Cat by Helen Marlais

Dr. Marlais writes educational piano books and is an exclusive writer for the Frederick J . Harris company. She often presents pedagogical workshops. She works in Grand Rapids, Michigan where she teaches piano majors, directs the pedagogy program and the young beginner piano program. She performs and records with her husband, clarinetist Arthur Campbell.

‘The Calico Cat’ teaches students to cover large hand position shifts quickly and efficiently. The piece illustrates the playful nature of cats: Sudden accented notes, quick runs, and smooth melodious passages.

The piece is quite fun to play for most students because it covers such a large range. You use the whole piano keyboard, so it is a good idea to sit centered on the bench so that you can reach all the high parts and all the low parts without shifting your position on the bench.

We like to rehearse this piece with music blocks placed at strategic points until the student gets used to recognizing how far of a jump to go. Sometimes we will try that with the eyes closed to see if you are able to get the jumps without looking. Take advantage of peripheral vision and try to keep your eye on the page when playing it.

RCM Preparatory B – Foggy Beach by Stephen Chatman

Dr. Stephen Chatman is one of Canada’s most prominent composers. He is a Professor of Composition at the University of British Columbia and has received many composition awards. In 2012 he was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada.

‘Foggy Beach’ is a piece that will work on changes of meter between 6/8 time and 9/8 time. Careful counting is in order–first with eighth notes, and then by feeling the dotted quarter pulse. Dynamics are carefully notated, giving a range between mp and pp, with crescendos, ritardandos, and a tempos.

Both ritardandos occur with a set of six eighth notes followed by a dotted quarter rest. Have the student count these out loud to learn how to wait the appropriate time for the rest.

For interpretation, the composer gives the instruction that the piece should be played slowly, desolate. Ask the student how they will make that happen.

RCM Preparatory B – Minuetto by James Hook

James Hook was born in Norwich and displayed a remarkable musical talent at an early age, playing the harpsichord by the age of four and performing concertos in public at age six. He began performing regularly by the time he was 10 years old, including benefit concerts. He held many jobs to earn money, including teaching, composing, transcribing music and tuning keyboard instruments. He was an organist for a tea garden and was well-known as a teacher and composer.

‘Minuetto’ is one of the few older pieces presented in the RCM Preparatory B collection. A minuetto is a slow, stately pattern dance in 3/4 time for groups of couples. The dance originated in 17th Century France. This is a good opportunity to look up the dance on YouTube and watch it with your student. This helps to get across the point that this was dance music that people danced to. Phrasing, notes, and rhythm will often imitate what the dancers were doing.

In the second last bar, we have a triplet on the first beat. Make sure that the student continues to count the triplets for the second and third beats so that the quarter note pulse remains the same. Practice with a metronome set to the recommended tempo (quarter note = 120 – 132) and practice clapping quarter notes, eighth notes, and triplets and switching randomly between these.

Analyze the music and point out that three of the four phrases (1st, 2nd, and 4th line) are very similar. How are they the same? How are they different. What pattern can you see in line 3? (the 2 bars repeat at different volumes).

RCM Preparatory B – Pop Goes the Weasel, arranged by Andrew Markow

Andrew Markow was an adjunct professor at the University of Toronto and a member of the Piano Faculty of both the Glenn Gould School and the Community School of The Royal Conservatory of Music. He performed in North America, Europe, and Asia in solo and chamber music concerts and worked as a recording artist, accompanist, adjudicator, and a music reviewer. He has also authored many musical pedagogy texts including co-authoring books on sight reading and ear training with Boris Berlin. He was responsible for the Royal Conservatory of Music’s piano curriculum for nearly four decades.

‘Pop Goes the Weasel’ is a popular English folk song. This arrangement begins with each phrase of the tune being transposed into different keys (C major – D flat major – D major). This piece is a good one to practice grace notes. The second half of the song has the “pop goes the weasel” part being played in different octaves. Before playing the second half of the song, have the student work out all the positions for the four grace notes.

For practicing grace notes, I have the student play the two notes at the same time, then gradually lengthen the distance between them. You might want to have the student practice them on a table top to hear how they work first. Make sure that the student uses strong fingers (the suggestion here is always with fingers 2 and 3) for each grace note pair.

RCM Preparatory B – Sneaky Sam by Melody Bober

Melody Bober studied music education and piano performance in Illionis and Minnesota. She is an active church pianist and accompanist, private piano teacher, and also taught in public school and at university. She gives workshops for piano teachers across North America and currently resides in Minnesota.

‘Sneaky Sam’ is a two-page piece that is a lot of fun to play. We are told to play this song ‘mysteriously’, just as the title would suggest. I will often play this piece and ask the student, “What do you think Sam is being sneaky about?”. How does Melody Bober make this piece sound ‘sneaky’?

Pay attention to where you have staccatos and where the notes are played legato. Staccatos should be uniformly short and bouncy–think of tiptoeing when you are trying to be sneaky!

Practice this song with a metronome to be sure that rests are observed, and notes that are sustained are held for their full value.

The hand crossing at the end of the piece should be done quickly so that the quarter notes are all evenly spaced. Remember to do the staccatos too! Practice getting to the last chord by leaving yourself plenty of time, and gradually decreasing that time until you are able to get to it within the three beats given. Try to find it quickly so that you have time to play the correct notes.

RCM Preparatory B – Pixies on Parade 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.

‘Pixies on Parade’ is a playful piece with a large variety of articulations to perform. It is very lively and should be played rhythmically, with attention to detail and expression markings.

Fingering is very important in this piece. The fingering helps you to position strong fingers (3 and 2) for the two-note half-step chords. Try to keep the harmonic patterns light (pixies!) and rhythmic (parade!).

When analyzing this piece, it is helpful to divide this piece into three, eight-bar phrases. After doing this, you can compare phrase one with phrase three (octave apart, extra note at the end, different dynamic markings), and also look for smaller motifs that are repeated in phrase two.

RCM Preparatory B – Mystery 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.

‘Mystery’ uses accidentals to create the mysterious sounding scale in this piece. There are interesting intervals that are created in the vertical harmonies of this piece–Augmented 6ths at the loudest parts of the crescendo are of interest.

The piece has a wide dynamic range from pp to f. Make use of these crescendos to create waves of sound for the first two phrases. Make sure that the diminuendo doesn’t start too soon, otherwise it will be hard to create the piano and pianissimo at the end.

Note that sustain pedal is required at the end of the piece so it is a good idea to have your foot ready or near the pedal when you start the piece.

RCM Preparatory B – Sherlock Holmes by Mike Schoenmehl

Mike Schoenmehl has been teaching classical and jazz piano and theory since 1977. He was an editor for popular music at Schott Verlag in Mainz and has been a lecturer at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Frankfurt and on Jazz Piano at the Johannes Gutenburg University in Mainz. He also directs his own quartet which specializes in bebop, latin, and funk.

‘Sherlock Holmes’ is from the collection Fun with Jazz Piano, volume two. Many elements of jazz are found in this piece, including ghost notes (notes that are played quietly and barely perceptibly), swing eighths, blue notes, and syncopation. 

When teaching swing eighths, I have the student listen to a measure of straight eighths, followed by a measure of swing eighths. The swing eighths can be taught as triplets: one, two, three; one, two, three; one, two, three; one, two, three, or lo-ng, short; lo-ng, short; lo-ng, short; lo-ng, short, eventually changing to feel the quarter note pulse and playing the swing eighths loosely and freely.

Ghost notes are a little tricky. As mentioned above, they are notes that are played quietly and barely perceptibly. They need a very light touch: they are marked as ghost notes AND they are on the weak part of the swing eighths beat. Think of the direct opposite of an accent.

Lastly, the music ends with a whole rest! I like to remind my students that the piece is not finished until that whole rest is done. So don’t ‘break character’ or move! ‘Sherlock Holmes’ is a suave, intelligent, cool piece and will give your student a good intro to jazz.

RCM Preparatory B – On A Greek Island by Mark Mrozinski

Dr. Mark Mronzinski runs a piano studio along with his wife in Arlington Heights, Illinois. He is active as a teacher, clinician, adjudicator, and composer and holds degrees in Piano Performance and Education. He is a co-author of the series Celebrate Piano! and is published by the Frederick Harris Music Company, Toronto.

‘On A Greek Island’ has a folk-dance feel to it and is an interesting melody that fluctuates between e minor and E flat major. Smoothly moving between these two keys is necessary to maintain the tempo. What also makes this piece challenging is the making the phrases articulated with slurs and staccatos, making your LH accompaniment even, and counting carefully to get the whole note rests accurate.

While the Italian description says presto, the actual metronome marking gives a range of quarter note to 96 – 104. As stated before, practicing with a metronome will ensure that the pulse of the piece is uniformly even, especially switching from the static rhythms of line 3 to the more active eighth note rhythms in the last line.

RCM Preparatory B – Cool Groove by Edwin McLean

Edwin McLean lives in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. He studied at the Yale School of Music and also holds degrees in music theory and piano performance. He started his career as a professional arranger and is a senior editor for the FJH Music Company Inc.

‘Cool Groove’ is another two-page offering from a collection called Succeeding at the Piano: Lesson and Technique Book, grade3. The piece is full of syncopated rhythms, interesting jazz harmonies and three note chords, a groovy melody line (do people still say groovy?), and contrasting articulations over a smooth bass line.

We are told to perform this piece with a “cool attitude”, so I tell students to imagine themselves playing, with sunglasses, in a edgy cafe, with the occasional nod to your drummer or saxophone soloist. This piece is FUN! It needs to sound effortless. So for practicing, the rhythms are interesting to tap or clap aloud. Metronome work is essential to eventually feeling the “groove” or pulse of the piece. The LH bass notes provide a solid beat for the RH melody to play off of. This piece definitely has a jazz band feel.

RCM Preparatory B – The Swing by Chee-Hwa Tan

Chee-Hwa Tan is a clinician, pianist, educator and composer. She is currently the Head of Piano Pedagogy at the University of Denver’s Lamont School of Music. She has also served on the piano pedagogy faculties at the Oberlin Conservatory and Southern Methodist University. She has written several compositions that are published by the Frederick Harris Music Company and by the RCM. Her compositions encourage exploration and expression of piano sounds using basic technical skills. She lives in Colorado Springs, Colorado with her husband and four children.

‘The Swing’ starts off with a descriptive poem which is important to read with your student, since it sets the mood for playing the song. When first playing this song, it is helpful to play the left hand first: 1) to figure out the pattern of playing one bass note, and adding a higher note one beat later, while still holding on to that first bass note and 2) to figure out the chord change pattern (bass note descends by step, top note repeats twice, then skips down), etc.

The phrasing in this piece is clearly marked, so it is important to lift well at the end of the phrases. Since the left hand notes are mimicking the “swing” motion, they need to be steady and rhythmic. It is helpful to break this piece into sections (maybe three starting at the pickups to bar 1, bar 13, and bar 17) and analyze where the hands need to be positioned. Each of these sections starts in a different place, so it’s helpful to know this ahead of time as the hand position changes need to happen quite quickly. The last section especially has a number of hand position changes and you end up covering quite a bit of the piano, so make sure your student sits at the middle of the piano and can comfortably reach the highs and lows without moving on the bench.

RCM Preparatory B – The Marching Trumpets 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.

‘The Marching Trumpets’ is an excellent piece to practice contrasting articulations. There are quite a number of measures where one hand is playing staccato while the other hand is playing legato. There are also a number of tenuto markings where notes are held to their full value or slightly more. This ends up giving a slight stress to the note. Slow practice is necessary to have the hands rehearse their independence.

The piece is in march time, so it requires rhythmic precision. The staccatos should be played crisply and on the beat. A range of dynamics from p, mp, mf, to f are given, so make sure that the student has four different levels of volume.

RCM Preparatory B – Playful Puppy by Linda Niamath

Linda Niamath is a Canadian composer from British Columbia. She graduated from UBC. She worked as an elementary school teacher and has written many collections of piano music for students.

‘Playful Puppy’ is a quick and happy piece with staccatos, accents, short legato phrases, four note chords, and a challenging ending. Play this piece with the title in mind. The piece has lots of bounce and energy–just like a puppy!

What makes this song challenging is changing the dynamics without altering the tempo. Make sure that the piano parts are still played at the same speed and with the same intensity. Use the staccatos in bar 5 to launch your RH to the correct notes. Don’t be intimidated by the four-note chords. It might be helpful to look at what note is missing; i.e. think of it as a D pentascale without the third step (third finger) instead.

Practice the last line (from bar 10 on) very slowly and increase the speed gradually. There are alot of things going on in this last line: a change from staccato to legato, a change from high notes to low notes, and keep the “tail wagging” eighth notes even.

RCM Preparatory B – Bouncing Ball 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.

‘Bouncing Ball’ experiments with changing meters between 5/8 and 3/4. In this piece, the eighth note remains the same duration through the time changes. At slower speeds, it is easier to feel the eighth note groupings: in 5/8 time: we have eighth note groupings of three and two in the first half of the song and then two and three in the second half of the song. In 3/4 time, you need to feel 1 and 2 and 3 and. Because of the switches in time, it’s harder to feel where the downbeat is, but playing slowly and putting an accent on the first beat for practice purposes will help you feel this time switch.

After the time switches are secure, practice it with a crisp staccato and put the dynamics in. Makes the song more fun!

RCM Preparatory B – The Tired Turtle Express 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.

If you are ever feeling lazy, this is the song for you! ‘The Tired Turtle Express’ is a nice piece to exercise your imagination in playing a very tired turtle. My students and I like to imagine turtles after a long day’s work, headed home on the Express…

‘The Tired Turtle Express’ is to be played slowly and deliberately. There are a lot of changes in speed including ritardandos, fermata (pauses), and a tempo instructions. I like to describe the feel of this piece as “plodding”. Enjoy the pauses.

The grace notes can be done a little more lazily–the drawn out grace note suits the character of this piece more than the quick grace notes that we are used to in other songs.

The poco a poco rit. that starts just before the last line is one that students should count out loud at first, making sure they are subdividing the beat to feel the pulse of the eighth notes. That way they can correctly gauge how long to pause for the silent 2/4 bar three bars before the end.

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