LifeSim
开玩

What are the easiest piano songs for beginners?

Easy piano songs with letter notes

Hot Cross Buns, Mary Had a Little Lamb, Jingle Bells and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star are the easiest: they stay on the white keys around middle C. Each song below has its letter notes line by line, such as C C G G A A G, with the fingers and the keys to press on a free virtual piano.

Open the virtual piano

Children's songs

Nursery rhymes on the white keys around middle C: the best first songs.

Christmas songs

Three carols for December, from the easiest, Jingle Bells, to Silent Night.

Classical and folk tunes

Famous melodies by Beethoven, Pachelbel and Grieg, and an old English folk song.

Which song to learn first

Start with the songs that need the fewest keys, and add one new thing with each song:

  1. Hot Cross Buns: 3 keys. Your hand never moves.
  2. Mary Had a Little Lamb: 4 keys. It adds G, under your little finger.
  3. Jingle Bells: 5 keys. They all fit under one hand, and the lines get longer.
  4. Twinkle Twinkle Little Star: 6 keys. Your little finger stretches up to A.
  5. Ode to Joy: 6 keys. It needs one hand position and one low G.
  6. We Wish You a Merry Christmas: 7 keys. It has your first black key, F#.

How to read letter notes

Letter notes name the keys to press, in order. A letter is a white key, and a # after it is the black key just to its right: F# is the black key between F and G.

The number after a letter is the octave. C4 is middle C, the C near the middle of the piano, C5 is the next C up, and G3 is the G just below middle C. The names of the piano keys shows where each one is.

Letter notes do not show how long each note lasts. Sing the words as you play, or press Listen in the virtual piano to hear the rhythm. This is the first line of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star:

  1. Twinkle, twinkle, little star

    C C G G A A G

    C4QC4QG4TG4TA4YA4YG4T

常见问题

What is the easiest song to play on the piano?

Hot Cross Buns. It uses three white keys next to each other, C, D and E, and your hand never moves. Its notes start E D C, E D C.

What are letter notes?

Letter notes write a song as the names of its keys, such as C C G G A A G, instead of sheet music. Each letter is a white key, and a # after a letter means the black key just to its right.

What are the piano notes for Mary Had a Little Lamb?

E D C D E E E, D D D, E G G, then E D C D E E E E, D D E D C. All of them are white keys around middle C, and the song fits under one hand.

Which Christmas songs are easy on the piano?

Jingle Bells is the easiest: its chorus uses five white keys under one hand. Silent Night is slow and uses only white keys, and We Wish You a Merry Christmas adds one black key, F#.

Can I learn these songs without a piano?

Yes. Every song opens in our virtual piano, which plays in the browser on a phone, a tablet or a computer. Its notes fall onto the keys, and the song waits until you press the right one.

What does the number after a note mean, as in C4?

It is the octave. C4 is middle C, the C near the middle of the piano, and C5 is the next C up. The number goes up by one at every C.

Are these songs free to play and to share?

Yes. Each melody is traditional or by a composer who died more than 100 years ago, so it is in the public domain. We wrote the letter notes, the lines and the tips for this site.

Play the life of a pianist

LifeSim is a free life sim in your browser, on a real map of Earth. Start a life as a concert pianist in Vienna: train the skill, work toward a career, and meet the people of the city, who remember you.

Virtual pianoPiano notes: the keys labeledAll free games