Mary Had a Little Lamb for Guitar

Mary Had a Little Lamb is one of the easiest beginner guitar tabs to play. It is rewarding and fun, because kids love to learn songs they already know!

Despite its nursery rhyme status, Mary Had a Little Lamb is so well-known, that kids are happy to play it. One of the most fun experiences for a beginner guitar player is to pluck a line of notes and have a recognizable tune manifest itself.

These two versions are easy guitar songs, but they do cross strings, so take it easy on the tempo for young kids.



Download free guitar tablature Mary Had a Little Lamb in key of C

By looking at the treble clef notation above the line of guitar tablature, kids can tell how long to wait or "hold" the notes.

I like students to start with the C version first, because they can also do the little C and G chords and we can play duets. For the chords, I draw slash marks right over the notes to illustrate 4 strums per measure.



Download free guitar sheet music in A

When they learn the A and E chords, then you can give them the A version. That's a good time to talk about transposing, if you haven't already, and the relationship of the I and V chords to each other. A line of the musical alphabet letters, repeated, is helpful for understanding this. I like to write out the letters, then have them help me pick any chord (such as A), call it the I chord, and count up to the V chord (the E), like this:

A B C D E F G A B C D E F G

I--------V

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