Ed Sheeran Style

by Gabriel Leopardi

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  • Hi GMC!

    Welcome to my new lesson covering the acoustic style of Ed Sheeran, an English singer-songwriter –musician born in 17th February 1991 in Yorkshire. Some history about him:

    “In early 2011, Sheeran independently released the extended play, No. 5 Collaborations Project, which caught the attention of Elton John and Jamie Foxx. After signing with Asylum Records, his debut album was released on 9 September 2011 and has since been certified six-times platinum in the UK. In 2012, Sheeran won the Brit Awards for Best British Male Solo Artist and British Breakthrough Act. “ From WIKI.

    Music Style:
    His music is very personal and it can be defined like acoustic pop and folk. Some of his songs are built only with acoustic guitar and vocals, while some other also include some other elements like drums, electronic drums, bass and orchestra arrangements. In this lesson I’ve composed a track inspired by his most popular songs that includes his guitar playing style, most used chord progressions and also a backing track that includes those extra elements that can be found in some of his hits.

    Tonality, Chord Progression & Scales:
    This lesson is based on one of the most used chord progressions in pop music. I’m talking about the classic I – V – VIm – IV , which every modern pop artist have used at least in one or maybe many more of his hits. This tune is in E major, so the chords are E, B, C#m and A, during the intro, verse and chorus. There is also a short bridge that works as a pre chorus with the chords F#m, G#m and A that connects smoothly the verse with the chorus, and creates enough tension to explode into the chorus.

    Techniques:
    This lesson combines some lead arpeggios and double string melodies with palm muting rhythm over power chords using only down picking technique. If you check Ed Sheeran’s videos you’ll see that he used his thumb to play this type of rhythms, so you can replace your pick by your right hand thumb if you prefer to use the same technique than Ed.

    Sound:
    I’ve recorded this one using a Mini Taylor Electro Acoustic guitar connected directly to my soundcard. I’ve used Addictive Drummer II and Trillian’s Bass for the backing track.


    Tuning: Standard Tuning

    Tempo: 105 BPM






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