Sight Reading

Rockschool Grade Pieces ‘Thinking Out Loud’ Ed Sheeran

SONG TITLE: THINKING OUT LOUD ALBUM: X LABEL: ASYLUM / ATLANTIC 79 = Pop 7 GENRE: BLUE EYED SOUL / POP A q G A D D/F# WRITTEN BY: ED SHEERAN, AMY WADGE AND JULIAN WILLIAMS # PRODUCED BY: JAKE GOSLING 4 œ œ & # 4 Œ ‰ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ ˙. UK CHART PEAK: 1 P œ. j œ œ. œ ˙ œ ? ## 4 œ. J œ D D/F# # Œ ‰ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ ‘Thinking Out Loud’ was released as a single in #His 2017Œ album ‘÷‰’ had, at oneœ time,œ a recordœ 10 September 2014 and reached the no.2 spot on the & singles in the UK Singles Chartœ œ œ œ w Billboard Hot 100 subsequently spending a year in the Top Forty. It reached no.1 in many countries Sheeran was born in West Yorkshire in 1991 and . œ ˙ across the world and by 2015 it had reached half a raised in Suffolk. He dropped out of school aged 16 œ œ. œ ˙ billion streams on Spotify and over 2 billion views to pursueœ a .career in music andœ moved˙ to London. œ. j œ J on YouTube. The song won two Grammy Awards, ? His# independentœ. releases caught the attention of . œ œ for Best Pop Solo Performance and Song Of The [3] Elton# John and Jamie Foxx, andJ he signed to Asylum œ 7 Year respectively. records in 2011. He is one of today’s most popular and G A commercially successful artists. 7 D D/F ‘Thinking Out Loud’ was written in partnership G A # with long-time collaborator Amy Wadge, who Sheeran is an outspoken artist, not afraid of making œ œ Sheeran has worked with since 2007. They also his political and social views known, and he remains ‰ collaborated on the 2017 single ‘Shape Of You’, a an# accessible and down to earth character. He is an Œ ‰ œ œ œ massive worldwide success. ‘Thinking Out Loud’ is actor,# and had cameos in Game of Thrones, Home and œ œ œ œ ˙. a romantic ballad and its lyrics reflect the feeling of &Away andœ The Simpsonsœ . œ ˙. getting older and how love and fidelity are impacted œ by it. Sheeran has defined the song as a ‘walking down With only three albums to his name to date, j the aisle song’. The song’s similarities with Marvin Ed Sheeran has already had an immensely œ. œ ˙ œ. œ ˙ Gaye’s ‘Let’s Get It On’ brought claims of plagiarism successful œcareer.. j œ œ. œ ˙ that were later withdrawn. ‘Thinking Out Loud’ has ? # J sold in excess of 10 million copies worldwide. [6] # œ œ 7 D D/F G A # Ed Sheeran’s meteoric rise to fame has been the D D/F result of a highly productive work ethic. He performs # relentlessly to this day, as a solo acoustic artist, to œ œ . thousands of fans worldwide. œ œ. œ œ œ œ œ œ ‰ Ó # œ. j œ œ J & # œ œ Piano Grade 2 Grade Piano œ ˙ œ ˙ ˙ 7 œ. œ ˙ œ. œ ˙ œ. œ ˙ œ. œ ˙ œ. ? # œ. œ ˙ J J [9] # J 7 G A 7 D D/F G A # œ œ œ. j œ œ œ. œ œ œ œ œ # œ œ œ œ œ œ J & # Ó Œ œ ˙ œ œ œ. œ ˙ œ. œ ˙ œ. œ œ œ. œ ˙ œ. J ? # œ. J Œ œ. J [12] # 7 G A D D/F# œ œ œ œ œ Œ # w œ & # œ œ ˙ œ. œ œ œ. œ ˙ œ. J Œ ? # œ. œ ˙ [15] # J 8 Piano Grade 2 Thinking Out Loud Out Thinking [15] [12] ? & ? & ? & ? & ? & [9] [6] [3] # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # ? & D G D G œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ Œ œ œ œ œ w œ œ œ Ó A ...... œ # # # # œ 4 4 4 4 q ‰

79 Pop P œ œ œ œ J D D œ œ Œ J œ œ œ œ œ œ œ J / j . . D F ˙ # / A . œ F Œ œ œ œ A 7 # œ ˙ ˙ ˙ œ 7 j ˙ ˙ œ J œ œ œ ‰ œ œ œ Œ œ D J œ œ œ œ / œ F œ # © Copyright 2014Sony/ATV Music Publishing (UK)Limited/BDi Music Limited. œ ˙ ˙ ˙ œ œ œ œ œ ˙ ˙ œ D œ œ œ œ œ All Rights Reserved. International RightsAll Reserved. Copyright Secured...... Words &Music by Sheeran Ed &Amy Wadge œ G œ œ œ œ œ œ w . . . . D . . Œ œ œ . . œ D J œ œ œ œ / j F ‰ # œ A œ J J œ œ œ œ j ˙ ˙ ˙ œ 7 D œ œ œ J œ / F œ œ # G œ œ œ œ ˙ ˙ ˙ œ . . . œ ˙ ˙ G œ œ œ . œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ G œ œ œ œ œ D œ œ Œ . . . . œ œ . . œ ˙ œ . G ˙ œ A œ œ œ œ J ‰ . . 7 œ j A A D J J œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ 7 7 D . . . . œ œ œ J / F œ œ œ œ # œ œ ˙ ˙ ˙ œ œ œ j ˙ ˙ œ D œ A œ œ œ J ‰ ˙ ˙ / 7 F œ # Ed Sheeran Ed œ ˙ ˙ ˙ Ó Œ Œ œ ‰ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ Technical Exercises Scales, Arpeggios & Chord Voicings

Technical Exercises

In this section you will be required to play a selection of exercises drawn from each of the groups below. The examiner will be looking for the speed of your response and will also give credit for the level of your musicality. Please see the syllabus guide for details on the marking criteria.

Major scales, minor scales and arpeggios need to be played hands together, in straight feel, ascending and descending, in the keys, octaves and tempos shown. Candidates can choose to play either natural minor or harmonic minor scales in the exam. Pentatonic scales are right hand only, and the C blues scale needs to be performed hands separately. You may use your book for Group A and Group B. Group C exercises must be played from memory.

Note that Groups A, B and C need to be played to a click and any fingerings shown are suggestions only.

Group A: Scales The tempo for this group is q = 66 bpm.

1. Bb major scale 4 2 3 4 3 1 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3 b œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ & b œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ ? ? b œ œ œ & œ œ œ œ b œ3 œ2 1 4 3 2 1 3 4 3 œ2 œ1 3 œ œ œ œ 2 1 œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ

2. D major scale 5 3 4 1 2 3 1 3 1 2 2 3 4 1 2 œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ ## œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ & œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ ? # œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ ? œ œ œ œ # œ 1 3 2 1 & 4 3 2 œ1 œ œ œ œ 4 3 2 œ œ 2 1 œ œ 5 œ 3 œ œ œ œ

3. G natural minor scale

5 4 1 4 1 2 3 1 2 3 2 3 1 2 3 œ bb œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ & œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ ? ? b œ œ œ & œ b 5 4 œ3 œ2 3 2 œ1 œ œ œ œ 1 3 2 1 2 1 œ œ œ œ œ œ 4 3 œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ

4. B natural minor scale 5 3 4 1 4 2 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 # œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ & # œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ Piano Grade 2 Grade Piano œ œ œ ? ? # œ œ œ & œ œ œ œ 32 # œ4 œ3 2 1 4 3 2 1 1 4 œ3 œ2 1 œ œ œ œ 3 2 œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ Supporting Tests Sight Reading

Sight Reading

In the exam, you have a choice between either a Sight Reading test or an Improvisation & Interpretation test. The examiner will ask you which one you wish to choose before commencing. Once you have decided you cannot change your mind.

In the sight reading test, the examiner will give you a 4–6 bar melody in the key of either D major or Bb major. You will first be given 90 seconds to practise, after which the examiner will play the backing track twice. The first time is for you to practise and the second time is for you to perform the final version for the exam. For each playthrough, the backing track will begin with a one bar count-in. The tempo is q = 60–95.

During the practice time, you will be given the choice of a metronome click throughout or a one bar count in at the beginning.

The backing track is continuous, so once the first playthrough has finished, the count in of the second playing will start immediately.

Sight Reading | Example 1

b b 4 ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ & 4 œ œ œ œ ˙ ˙ ? . bb 4 w w ˙ œ œ œ ˙

Please note: The test shown is an example. The examiner will give you a different version in the exam.

Sight Reading | Example 2

# # 4 Ó Ó Œ & 4 œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ ˙ œ ? # 4 # 4 ˙ Ó ˙ Ó ˙ ˙ ˙ œ Œ

Please note: The test shown is an example. The examiner will give you a different version in the exam. Piano Grade 2 Grade Piano 37