Righteous Brothers - Unchained Melody

Level: Easy

Thanks to Victoria Finan for suggesting this one. With slow, clear lyrics and lots of essential theory it's a great one for beginners. A nice easy start if learning Teeline is on your New Year's resolution list.

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Traditional - Away in a Manger

Level: Easy

A nice, easy festive number which incorporates lots of theory. I might post another seasonal song this month so if you have any suggestions leave a comment or contact me on Facebook or Twitter.

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Abba - Dancing Queen

Level: Medium

The Swedish popsters are a great choice for Teeline practice with clear, easy to follow lyrics. You'll need to use plenty of shortcuts and word groupings to keep up though.

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Steve Harley - Make Me Smile

Level: Medium

Thanks to Joe Sturdy for suggesting this. It's a bit difficult to make out all the words on the first listen but the lyrics are worth studying and it goes at a challenging but manageable pace.

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NCTJ Awards for Excellence

Musical Teeline has been shortlisted for an NCTJ Award for excellence in the multimedia category. Thanks to everyone who has used the site, especially those who have shared it, tweeted about it and suggested songs. I look forward to developing the site to make it resource that everyone can use to make learning Teeline a bit easier and a lot more fun.

The Undertones - Teenage Kicks

Level: Hard

Two reasons for posting this: First it's a short but tough test of Teeline dexterity and secondly it was the favourite song of legendary DJ John Peel who died ten years ago this month. 

There are not many words in the song and the outlines are not that tricky but they go at quite a speed and repeated use of easily confused words like hold, her and have make it the shorthand equivalent of a tongue twister. The verses are repeated so you get two bites of the cherry.

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Whitney Houston: I Will Always Love You

Level: Easy

An easy slow one with several common words and useful word grouping. This is great for beginners but also a good break if you've been struggling with 100wpm dictations. Concentrate on getting those outlines nice and smooth and neat.

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