RCM Level 1 Piano Repertoire Guide
April 9, 2025 by Taras (Terry) Babyuk
Introduction
Planning to take your RCM Level 1 Practical Piano Exam? You're in the right place! In this post, you will learn how the Repertoire section is graded, view the full list of pieces to choose from, and pick up a few helpful tips to get you ready for this portion of the exam.
Source: RCM Celebration Series books, 2022 Edition (latest edition)
How Level 1 Piano Repertoire Is Graded
At this level, students must perform three Repertoire pieces - one from each list: A, B, and C. Each memorized piece earns an additional 2 marks. Up to 56 out of 100 total marks can be earned for the Repertoire section, making it the most heavily weighted component of the Level 1 Practical Piano Exam.
Level 1 Piano Repertoire Pieces
Sixth Edition (2022)
List A: Baroque and Classical Repertoire
| PIECE | COMPOSER | PAGE |
|---|---|---|
| Minuet in C Major, op. 38, no. 4 | Johann Wilhelm Hassler | 4 |
| Bourree in D Minor | Christoph Graupner | 5 |
| Burlesque in G Major* | Anonymous | 6 |
| Andante in G Minor* | Georg Philipp Telemann | 7 |
| German Dance in D Major, Hob. IX:22, no. 2* | Franz Joseph Haydn | 8 |
| Gavotte in G Major | Thomas F. Dunhill | 9 |
| Minuet in D Major | Leopold Mozart | 10 |
| Minuet in D Minor | Anonymous | 11 |
| High Spirits | Daniel Gottlob Turk | 12 |
| Ukrainian Folk Song, op. 107, no. 3 | Ludwig van Beethoven | 13 |
| A Simple Waltz | John Burge | 28 |
| Amber Moon | Kevin Olson | 30 |
| Waltz, op. 39, no. 13* | Dmitri Kabalevsky | 32 |
| * pieces that were kept from the previous, 2015 edition | ||
List B: Romantic, 20th, and 21st Century Repertoire
| PIECE | COMPOSER | PAGE |
|---|---|---|
| Early One Morning* | Traditional English song, arr. Frederick Silvester | 14 |
| The Swiss Cuckoo | Traditional, arr. Boris Berlin | 15 |
| Sweet Jasmine | Dennis Alexander | 16 |
| Niimi Aandeg (Crow Dances) | Barbara Assiginaak | 18 |
| This Guy's Disguised | Bradley Sowash | 20 |
| Lunar Eclipse | Nancy Faber and Randall Faber | 21 |
| March of the Terrible Trolls | Linda Niamath | 22 |
| Mist* | Clifford Poole | 23 |
| Clear Mountain Sky | Mike Springer | 24 |
| Angelfish* | Anne Crosby Gaudet | 26 |
| A Simple Waltz | John Burge | 28 |
| Amber Moon | Kevin Olson | 30 |
| Waltz, op. 39, no. 13* | Dmitri Kabalevsky | 32 |
| Song of the Dark Woods* | Elie Siegmeister | 33 |
| Reminiscence | Edwin McLean | 34 |
| Uptown News | Tom Gerou | 36 |
| * pieces that were kept from the previous, 2015 edition | ||
List C: Inventions
| PIECE | COMPOSER | PAGE |
|---|---|---|
| Cranky Cat* | Teresa Richert | 38 |
| Mary Had a Little Lamb | English nursery rhyme, arr. Dianne Goolkasian Rahbee | 39 |
| Young Ludwig Exploring* | Forrest Kinney | 40 |
| The Playful Parrot | Gary K. Thomas | 40 |
| The Snake* | Renee Christopher | 41 |
| Invention on a Latvian Folk Tune | George Juris Kenins | 42 |
| Conversation No. 3 | Bela Bartok | 42 |
| Teapot Invention* | Andrew Markow | 43 |
| Follow My Leader | Andre Felix Swinstead | 44 |
| * pieces that were kept from the previous, 2015 edition | ||
See all RCM Level 1 Pieces Performed!
To see performance of the old, 2015 edition of RCM Level 1 Piano Repertoire, click here.
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