After several years of preparation, writing, performing, producing, finalizing, proofreading, editing, and amending, the 2015 Edition of the Royal Conservatory Piano Syllabus is finally available in pdf form, with the print edition soon to follow in music retail stores across North America.
This Piano Syllabus will form the foundation of piano studies in the United States and Canada for thousands of students, teachers, adjudicators, and examiners over the next 7-8 years.
It was an honor to have collaborated with so many brilliant individuals in the preparation of this syllabus, and my contributions have included the following:
- With Dr. Thomas Green and Anne-Marie Page, playing through well over 600 works in order to choose new selections for repertoire lists at all levels
- With Dr. Janet Lopinski, co-writing the technique revisions that went into both the Technical Requirements of the Syllabus and the revised technique books.
- As Artistic Advisor for the recordings, working in the studio with the legendary Anton Kwiatkowski through the process of recording the repertoire and etudes. The many fine pianists featured on the set include Peter Longworth, Robert Kortgaard, Lang Ning Liu, Li Wang, Janet Lopinski, Dianne Werner-Simon, Ben Smith, and Michael Esch. I also played a few of the repertoire and etude selections in the latter stages of the recording process.
- Playing all of the intervals, chords, chord progressions, and playbacks for inclusion on the recorded online content for the Four Star books. The online content for the sight reading and ear training is perhaps the most ground-breaking portion of the entire publication series, as it is an online musicianship training course on a scale that has not been attempted before, all utilizing acoustically recorded samples on a grand piano (not MIDI!).
- Writing the Helpful Hints section of the dropdown menu content on the online portion of the Four Star books.
The new syllabus takes effect on September 1, 2015. If you have any questions about the content and/or implementation of the 2015 Edition of the RCM Piano Syllabus, please leave a comment below and I would be glad to respond.
Thanks for making this available.
ReplyDeleteThe online musicianship course sounds interesting. Do you have a link to this resource?
ReplyDeleteEllen, you have to buy the Four Star books, which will have both the links and a password that you can enter to access the content!
DeleteThank you for this information. I assume this means purchasing the latest editions. I already own all the previously published editions..... Sigh!
DeleteYou'll still be able to teach the rep and studies for future exams. The new edition will just have a refreshed selection of repertoire as well as a much-needed streamlining of technique.
DeleteI read in the syllabus online you need to go rcmusic.ca to view the pedagogy syllabus - I can't seem to find this. Are you able to provide insight in this regard? Thank you.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment, Anon! I just checked at Frederick Harris and they said that the pedagogy syllabus will be posted online in the next few weeks - they're a bit delayed because of the MTNA Conference this past weekend.
DeleteDo you know when the books will be available in stores? I've only received ambiguous answers saying sometime in April so far. I'd like to be able to plan. Also, I'm just very excited.
ReplyDeleteAny day now...
DeleteCan I still use the old four star books to prepare for future exams?
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteLevko, I hope you realize it is totally uncool to advertise for-hire plagiarism services on this site.
DeleteThis specific Piano Syllabus will form the muse of piano studies in the us and Canada for a huge number of students, teachers, adjudicators, and examiners in the next 7-8 years.
ReplyDelete