A good first song on piano uses only a few neighboring keys, so one hand can play it without moving. Mary Had a Little Lamb and Ode to Joy both fit in C position, with your right thumb on middle C and one finger over each key from C to G. Learn Mary first, since it uses only four notes, then Ode to Joy, which uses all five fingers and adds a new rhythm. Each song is written out below, line by line, with a right-hand finger for every note.
Get into C position
Put your right thumb (finger 1) on middle C, the C just left of the pair of black keys nearest the center of the piano, then rest fingers 2, 3, 4 and 5 on D, E, F and G. These are the five keys lit on the keyboard on this page. The hand position lesson shows how to sit and curve your fingers.
Rest your left hand in its own C position too, with the little finger on the C below middle C and the thumb on the G just below middle C. You'll need that thumb for one note in Ode to Joy.
In the tables, a slash (/) marks each bar line.
Song 1: Mary Had a Little Lamb
Mary Had a Little Lamb is a traditional nursery rhyme. The words are by Sarah Josepha Hale (1830); the tune most people know today is not the 1831 setting by Lowell Mason, which has fallen out of use.
| Line | Notes | Fingers |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | E D C D / E E E / D D D / E G G | 3 2 1 2 / 3 3 3 / 2 2 2 / 3 5 5 |
| 2 | E D C D / E E E E / D D E D / C | 3 2 1 2 / 3 3 3 3 / 2 2 3 2 / 1 |
Every note gets one beat, except the last note of bars 2, 3 and 4, which you hold for two beats, and the final C, held for all four.
- Bar 1. Play E, D, C, D slowly and say the letters. Your fingers walk down 3, 2, 1 and back up to 2.
- Bars 2 to 4. Three Es, three Ds, then E G G. The only upward skip is here, from E to G: finger 3 to finger 5, passing over F.
- Line 2. It opens like bar 1, so you skip back down from G to E. Its second bar has four Es instead of three, and its third goes D D E D before the final C.
- Count out loud, 1, 2, 3, 4 in every bar. Holding the long notes for their full count is what makes the tune recognizable.
Song 2: Ode to Joy
Ode to Joy is the theme from the last movement of Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 (1824), where it sets a poem by Friedrich Schiller. It uses all five fingers of C position, plus one note below it.
| Line | Notes | Fingers |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | E E F G / G F E D / C C D E / E D D | 3 3 4 5 / 5 4 3 2 / 1 1 2 3 / 3 2 2 |
| 2 | E E F G / G F E D / C C D E / D C C | 3 3 4 5 / 5 4 3 2 / 1 1 2 3 / 2 1 1 |
| 3 | D D E C / D E F E C / D E F E D / C D G | 2 2 3 1 / 2 3 4 3 1 / 2 3 4 3 2 / 1 2, then left thumb |
| 4 | E E F G / G F E D / C C D E / D C C | 3 3 4 5 / 5 4 3 2 / 1 1 2 3 / 2 1 1 |
Lines 2 and 4 are identical, and line 1 differs from them only in its last bar, so there are really two parts to learn: lines 1, 2 and 4, then line 3.
The dotted rhythm. The last bar of lines 1, 2 and 4 goes long, short, long. Play the first note on count 1 and hold it through 2, play the short note on the "and" after 2, then play the last note on 3 and hold it through 4.
Quick notes. In the second and third bars of line 3, E and F share one beat: E on count 2, F on the "and" after it.
The low G. Line 3 ends with C, D and then the G just below middle C (G3), held for two beats. Your right hand can't reach it from C position, so play it with your left thumb, then start line 4 on E with right-hand finger 3.
Tricky spots. Line 1 climbs to G and turns around: 3 3 4 5, then 5 4 3 2. The first two bars of line 3 skip from E down to C, finger 3 to finger 1.
Practice with the song pages
Each song has its own page: Mary Had a Little Lamb and Ode to Joy. Press Listen to hear the melody while the keys light up, then switch to Practice: the next key lights up and waits for you to press it, so you set the pace.
When both feel easy, try Hot Cross Buns, which uses only C, D and E, and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, which adds the A above G, reached by stretching your little finger one key to the right.
Next lesson
So far you've read letter names. How to read piano sheet music shows where the same notes sit on the staff, so you can play from printed music too.
How to learn your first song on piano
- Put your right thumb on middle C and fingers 2 to 5 on D, E, F and G.
- Play line 1 of Mary Had a Little Lamb slowly, saying the note names: E D C D, E E E, D D D, E G G.
- Count four beats in every bar, holding the long notes for two beats and the final C for four.
- Learn line 2 the same way, then play both lines without stopping.
- Learn Ode to Joy one line at a time, leaving line 3 for last.
- Play each song with Practice mode on its song page.
Frequently asked questions
What is the easiest first song on piano?
Mary Had a Little Lamb is one of the easiest: it uses only four notes, C, D, E and G, and moves mostly between neighboring keys. Hot Cross Buns is shorter still, with just C, D and E.
Which finger plays which note in C position?
With your right thumb on middle C, finger 1 plays C, 2 plays D, 3 plays E, 4 plays F and 5 plays G. Each finger stays over its own key, so your hand doesn't need to move.
Why does Ode to Joy go below middle C?
Its third line ends on the G just below middle C, outside the right hand's C position. Play it with your left thumb, which rests on that G when your left hand is in C position.
How do I count the rhythm in these songs?
Both songs are in 4/4 time, so count 1, 2, 3, 4 in every bar. A quarter note gets one count, a half note two and a whole note four.
Can I play Mary Had a Little Lamb with my left hand?
Yes. Put your left hand in C position, little finger on the C below middle C, and play the same letter names: E is finger 3, D is 4, C is 5 and G is 1.