Easy piano songs: 8 public-domain melodies with the notes written out
The easiest piano songs use a few neighbouring white keys and short repeated phrases. Hot Cross Buns needs three notes (E D C), Mary Had a Little Lamb four, and Ode to Joy and the chorus of Jingle Bells fit under five fingers with the thumb on middle C: Ode to Joy begins E E F G G F E D C C D E E D D.
All eight melodies below are old enough to be in the public domain, and all are written in C, so they need no black keys. Each comes with its notes in letter names, in an order that adds one new difficulty at a time, followed by how to place the hand and how to practise. Every one of them can be played key by key on the free online piano of VITON13 SCHOOL.
Key ideas
- In C position the right thumb sits on middle C (C4) and fingers 1 to 5 cover C, D, E, F and G.
- Start with a three-note tune (Hot Cross Buns), then four notes (Mary Had a Little Lamb), then five (Ode to Joy, the Jingle Bells chorus).
- Twinkle Twinkle, London Bridge and Frère Jacques reach one key above the hand, to A; Au clair de la lune goes below middle C.
- Practise each hand alone and slowly first, and raise the speed only when a phrase plays without stopping.
Which piano songs are easiest for beginners?
The easiest piano songs move between neighbouring keys, stay on the white keys and repeat short phrases. Hot Cross Buns, a traditional English tune, uses only E, D and C: E D C, E D C, C C C C D D D D, E D C. Mary Had a Little Lamb, a 19th-century American nursery song, adds one key, G: E D C D E E E, D D D, E G G, E D C D E E E E D D E D C.
Next come the five-note tunes that fill the whole hand. Ode to Joy, the melody of the last movement of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, completed in 1824, moves almost entirely by step: E E F G G F E D C C D E E D D, then E E F G G F E D C C D E D C C. The chorus of Jingle Bells, published by James Lord Pierpont in 1857, stays inside the same five keys: E E E, E E E, E G C D E, F F F F F E E E E D D E D G, then E E E, E E E, E G C D E, F F F F F E E E G G F D C. This is the chorus as it is sung today; Pierpont's first print had a noticeably different one.
What are the notes of the next easy songs?
Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star uses six notes, C to A. Its tune is the French melody Ah! vous dirai-je, maman, first published in 1761; Jane Taylor's words appeared in 1806, and the same tune carries the ABC song and Baa, Baa, Black Sheep. The notes: C C G G A A G, F F E E D D C, G G F F E E D, G G F F E E D, C C G G A A G, F F E E D D C.
London Bridge Is Falling Down, a traditional English song, also spans C to A: G A G F E F G, D E F, E F G, G A G F E F G, D G E C. Frère Jacques, a traditional French round, adds a low note at the end: C D E C, C D E C, E F G, E F G, G A G F E C, G A G F E C, C G C, C G C, where the G of the last two phrases is the G below middle C.
Au clair de la lune, a French song from the 18th century, starts with three notes and later dips below middle C: C C C D E D, C E D D C, twice; then D D D D A A, D C B A G, where A, B and G are the white keys just below middle C; and finally C C C D E D, C E D D C once more.
How should you place your hands and practise?
C position is the starting point for all eight songs. Put the right thumb on middle C (C4) and rest fingers 2, 3, 4 and 5 on D, E, F and G, one finger per key. Piano fingering numbers the fingers from 1 for the thumb to 5 for the little finger on both hands, so the left hand in C position, an octave lower, puts finger 5 on C3 and the thumb on G3.
Hot Cross Buns, Mary Had a Little Lamb, Ode to Joy and the Jingle Bells chorus never leave this position. For the A in Twinkle Twinkle, London Bridge and Frère Jacques, stretch the little finger one key to the right, or shift the hand up for that phrase and back again. The low notes of Frère Jacques and Au clair de la lune can be taken by the left hand.
Practise slowly and in small pieces. First play the melody with the right hand alone, one phrase at a time, at a speed where no note needs a pause to find it; then play any left-hand notes alone; only then put the hands together. Speed comes last: raise it in small steps once a phrase sounds the same several times in a row.
How to learn easy songs on the online piano
The free online piano of VITON13 SCHOOL has these eight songs built in. Open it, choose the Songs mode and pick a melody, then press Play it for me to hear it while the keys light up; it can play at 0.5×, 0.75× or full speed. Then press Follow the lit key: the next key lights up and the song waits until you press it, and a wrong key only shows that it was not the one, so you learn the notes at your own pace.
Turn on the note names, in letters or in do re mi, to link each key with the notes written in this guide. You can play with the mouse, with your fingers on a touch screen or with the computer keyboard, and Record keeps your playing in the page so you can listen to it before you leave.
In everyday language
Learning a song on the piano is like learning a phone number: you split it into short groups, repeat each group slowly until it sticks, and only then run the whole number together.
Try it yourself
Open the online piano, choose Songs, pick Ode to Joy, listen once with Play it for me, then play it with Follow the lit key.
Expected result
The keys C, D, E, F and G light up one at a time, the song moves on only when you press the lit key, and it ends on C.
Check your answer: Which five keys does Ode to Joy use, and which finger plays each one in C position?
C, D, E, F and G: the thumb (1) on C, finger 2 on D, finger 3 on E, finger 4 on F and the little finger (5) on G. The tune starts on E, so the first note is played by the middle finger.
Questions
What is the easiest song to play on the piano?
Hot Cross Buns is one of the easiest: it uses only three keys, E, D and C, played by fingers 3, 2 and 1 of the right hand. Mary Had a Little Lamb is a good next step because it adds just one key, G.
Can I learn piano songs without reading sheet music?
For a start, yes: letter names and a keyboard that lights up the next key are enough for simple melodies. Learning to read the staff later lets you play music that nobody has written out in letters.
Start with Hot Cross Buns today, play it in C position with the right hand alone, then let the VITON13 SCHOOL online piano lead you through the other seven songs one at a time, slowly before fast.