Sight Reading
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Rockschool Grade Pieces ‘Thinking Out Loud’ Ed Sheeran Thinking Out Loud SONG TITLE: THINKING OUT LOUD ALBUM: X LABEL: ASYLUM / ATLANTIC GENRE: BLUE EYED SOUL / POP = 79 Pop A q D D/F G A7 WRITTEN BY: ED SHEERAN, AMY WADGE # AND JULIAN WILLIAMS PRODUCED BY: # JAKE GOSLING # 4 Œ ‰ œ œ œ & 4 œ œ œ œ œ œ œ ˙ UK CHART PEAK: 1 œ . P ? # 4 œ. œ ˙ œ. j œ # 4 œ. J œ œ D D/F# ‘Thinking Out Loud’ was released as a single in # His# 2017 album ‘ September 2014 and reached the no.2 spot on the & Œ ÷‰’ had, at oneœ time,œ a recordœ 10 Œ ‰ œ œ œ Billboard Hot 100 subsequently spending a year in singles in the UK Singles Chartœ œ œ œ w œ œ œ œ the Top Forty. It reached no.1 in many countries across the world and by 2015 it had reached half a Sheeran was born in West Yorkshire in 1991 and billion streams on Spotify and over 2 billion views raised in Suffolk. He dropped out of school aged 16 on YouTube. The song won two Grammy Awards, to pursueœ a .career in music andœ moved˙ to London. œ. œ ˙ ? His# independent releases caughtœ the attention˙ of j œ œ ˙ for Best Pop Solo Performance and Song Of The # œ. œ. œ. Year respectively. [3] Elton John and Jamie Foxx, andJ he signed to Asylum . œ œ J records in 2011. He is one of today’s most popular and œ commercially successful artists. ‘Thinking Out Loud’ was written in partnership 7 7 with long-time collaborator Amy Wadge, who G A D D/F G A Sheeran has worked with since 2007. They also Sheeran is an outspoken artist, not afraid of making # collaborated on the 2017 single ‘Shape Of You’, a his political and social views known, and he remains an# accessible and down to earth character. He is an massive worldwide success. ‘Thinking Out Loud’ is # œ œ a romantic ballad and its lyrics reflect the feeling of &actor, and had cameos in Game of Thrones, Home and Œ ‰ œ œ œ ‰ getting older and how love and fidelity are impacted Away and œThe Simpsonsœ . œ ˙. œ œ œ œ ˙. by it. Sheeran has defined the song as a ‘walking down œ the aisle song’. The song’s similarities with Marvin With only three albums to his name to date, Gaye’s ‘Let’s Get It On’ brought claims of plagiarism Ed Sheeran has already had an immensely successful career. j that were later withdrawn. ‘Thinking Out Loud’ has ? # œ. j œ œ œ ˙ œ. sold in excess of 10 million copies worldwide. œ. œ ˙ [6] # œ œ J œ ˙ Ed Sheeran’s meteoric rise to fame has been the result of a highly productive work ethic. He performs D D/F G A7 D D/F relentlessly to this day, as a solo acoustic artist, to # # thousands of fans worldwide. # œ. j œ œ œ œ. œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ. & # œ œ J ‰ Ó Piano Grade 2 7 œ . œ ˙ œ. œ ˙ œ. œ ˙ ? # œ. œ ˙ œ. œ ˙ œ. œ ˙ [9] # J J J 7 7 G A D D/F# G A # œ œ œ œ. j œ œ œ œ. œ œ œ œ œ œ & # Ó Œ œ œ J œ œ. œ œ œ. œ ˙ œ. œ ˙ ? # œ. œ œ Œ œ. œ ˙ œ. œ ˙ [12] # J J J 7 D D/F# G A # w œ œ œ œ œ œ & # Œ œ œ œ. œ ˙ œ. œ œ ? # œ. œ ˙ œ. œ Œ [15] # J J Thinking Out Loud Ed Sheeran = 79 Pop A q 7 D D/F# G A # & # 4 Œ ‰ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ ˙. P ? # 4 œ. œ ˙ œ. j œ # 4 œ. J œ œ D D/F# # # Œ ‰ œ œ œ Œ ‰ œ œ œ & œ œ œ œ w œ œ œ œ œ. œ ˙ œ. œ ˙ ? ## œ. œ ˙ œ. j œ œ. œ ˙ [3] J œ. œ œ J 7 7 G A D D/F# G A # œ œ & # Œ ‰ œ œ œ œ ‰ œ œ œ œ ˙. œ œ œ ˙. j ? # œ. j œ œ. œ ˙ œ. œ ˙ [6] # œ œ J œ ˙ 7 D D/F# G A D D/F# # œ. j œ œ œ œ. œ œ œ œ œ . & # œ œ J œ œ œ ‰ Ó . œ ˙ œ. œ ˙ . œ ˙ ? # œ. œ ˙ œ. œ ˙ œ. œ ˙ [9] # J J J 7 7 G A D D/F# G A # œ œ œ œ. j œ œ œ œ. œ œ œ œ œ œ œ & # Ó Œ œ œ J œ. œ œ œ. œ ˙ œ. œ ˙ ? # œ. œ œ Œ œ. œ ˙ œ. œ ˙ [12] # J J J 7 D D/F# G A # œ œ œ œ & # w œ œ Œ œ. œ ˙ œ. œ œ ? # œ. œ ˙ œ. Œ [15] # J J Piano Grade 2 Grade Piano Words & Music by Ed Sheeran & Amy Wadge © Copyright 2014 Sony/ATV Music Publishing (UK) Limited/BDi Music Limited. 8 All Rights Reserved. International Copyright Secured. 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 ˙ ˙ ? .