Simon & Garfunkel - The Sound of Silence

Level: Medium

Thanks to Teeline Tweets for suggesting this. There are some complicated lyrics here and some words you're unlikely to meet in any exam. There are also several words you almost certainly will. The lyrics are delivered clearly and at a suitable pace to make this a challenging but achievable song. 

Lyrics

Prince - When doves cry

 

Level: Hard

Another legend lost in 2016! It's a quite hard to keep up with the energetic funk of this classic song from Prince but there are several common outlines and word groupings which transcribing these lyrics will certainly sharpen up.

Lyrics

David Bowie - The Man Who Sold The World

Level: Medium

In a memory of David Bowie. A short gentle-paced song with a few challenges.

Lyrics

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.

Lyrics

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Bob Dylan: Blowing In The Wind

Level: Medium

A nice steady piece with some good vocabulary from Bob Dylan. It's useful for practising CN blends. Cannon is a particularly tricky one but unlikely to come up in an exam. With a bit of practice this song's easy to do.

Lyrics

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Radiohead - Creep

Level: Easy

This early classic from Radiohead goes at a gentle pace but is packed with essential vocab and theory.  There's the 'A' indicator for 'ang' in angel, the 'cn' blend for skin and perfect abbreviated to perf. 'Creep' could be written with the 'P' intersecting the 'C' but I prefer to write it in one stroke. I've transcribed the clean version because you're not going to get the f-word in an NCTJ exam!

Lyrics

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Blur - To The End

Level: Easy

Having featured an Oasis song it's only fair to feature one by Blur. To The End is a nice easy one to transcribe. I'll let you off the backing vocals. As with any NCTJ dictation there are one or two words that might trip you up but it's mostly plain sailing.

Lyrics

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Kris Kristofferson - Sunday Morning Coming Down

Level: hard

Kris Krisofferson's often covered classic covers a range of vocabulary with some complex outlines making it a great challenge but slow and clear enough to be achievable.
'Breakfast' is a cumbersome word to write out in full. I've shortened it to 'b'fast' but there are other ways of shortening and simplifying it which may work better. Also don't bother writing the title out in full. Stick to the first letters.

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Sinéad O'Connor - Nothing Compares 2 U

Level: Easy

Sinéad O'Connor's classic is a nice easy one to transcribe with plenty of common words and some handy word groupings.

Lyrics

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The Kinks - Waterloo Sunset

Level: Medium

A smashing tune from The Kinks and a good Teeline dictation. You don't want to be writing Waterloo Sunset out each time so I've shorted it to WS. I put the S over the W to make a distinctive outline; it even looks a bit like a sunset. You may find something else works better for you. It also includes slightly fiddly but handy word grouping 'as long as.'

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Lyrics

Rod Stewart - Maggie May

Level: Hard

This classic by Rod Stewart takes a fair bit of stamina but there are a few instrumental breaks to get your breath back including a mandolin solo famously mimed by Radio 1 DJ John Peel on Top of The Pops. Thanks to Emma Marie Webb for the suggestion.

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The Crash Test Dummies - Mmm mmm mmm mmm

Level: Medium

No prizes for transcribing the chorus of this one and the lyrics are easy too if you remember the special outlines and word groupings. This song is full of them. The first line could have been lifted from a Teeline textbook.

Among the word groupings is the very useful 'all over the' written with an 'a' indicator over the following word. Three words with a single small dash makes this an essential time saver. All over the place / world / country are more likely to come up in NCTJ dictations.

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