Your repertoire is your own ‘playlist’ of piano music that expands with time and practice! In other words, a player’s repertoire is all the music that they know and can perform. This is built up over time, like I said. I like my students to keep all their music together in a folder or folders so they can track their repertoire. At the beginning, students’ focus is learning the basics of playing piano and learning simple songs which consolidate their learning. These beginners pieces are necessary but not classed strictly as songs, more exercises. As the student progresses, they begin to learn small pieces which can be added to their repertoire. The piano exams allow for a varied range of pieces – from classical pieces by Bach, Scarlatti and Beethoven to modern contemporary pieces. For all my students I encourage a range of pieces in their repertoire. At any time, I could be teaching Beethoven’s Fur Elise while also doing something fun from a film such as the well known Pirates of the Caribbean. At Christmas time, lots of my students like to learn some well known Christmas carols which they can keep as part of their repertoire for the future. My own repertoire is varied also – coming from a background of classical piano training and church organ performance. My repertoire also includes many wedding pieces such as the Canon in D, known as Pachelbel’s Canon to pieces by Eva Cassidy and Shania Twain. Many contemporary pieces are also there including the beautiful ‘River Flows in You’ by Yiruma and the relaxing pieces of Ludovico Ein Audi a modern Italian composer. With a lot of modern music it can help enormously to have solid sightreading and chord skills so you can listen and adapt most pieces easily. Being able to read music is an invaluable skill and one I work at with all my students. It can open up a world of music at their fingertips. Chord skills can be built with a solid foundation in scales and theory, allowing students to experiment with chords in their music giving them a solid left hand or bass accompaniment for playing. Repertoire in piano is always expanding and is testimony to your playing skills and your own music taste. It is rewarding to track and file your repertoire, then you can always come back to it and enjoy playing your favourite pieces once again!