Old Joe Clark for Beginning Pianists

Old Joe Clark piano music for beginners has fun lyrics and great rhythm. With silly words about his 18-story house filled with chicken pie, Old Joe Clark is fun to sing too. It's also pretty easy! Here it is in 4 different versions...

Work with them on these skips -- you may want them to "help you" spot all the skips and put loops around them, perhaps with a colored pen or pencil.

I have not put any fingering in the LH -- you'll have to help your student decide whether they prefer their "2" finger or their "1" on bass clef B. Some kids really dislike cramming their thumbs together on Middle C, and will fight against any fingering that tries to force them that way, all the while reading the actual note itself just fine.

Frequently in method books, the specified fingering is arbitrary, and could just as well have been something else. By encouraging kids to (sometimes!) make their own choices about fingering, I hope that they will come to realize musical decisions are rarely cast in stone. I want to give them a sense of control, and the desire to think for themselves.



Download Old Joe Clark with chord symbols

Here is a version with chord symbols added. These are for a duet partner, and for the student to play once they have learned the melody. Treat them as a Secondo, with the melody being the Primo. For an idea of how to do the chords, look further down the page to the more difficult version with chords written out. A "boogie" back-and-forth kind of chord suits Old Joe Clark very well!

After kids can play this song easily, come back to it later with a bit of harmony:



Printable piano music Old Joe Clark with harmony

Below is a video of a popular arrangement of Old Joe Clark arranged by Gerald Martin, which can be found in his book The Joy Of Boogie And Blues.

(On www.sheetmusicplus.com, "Old Joe Clark's Boogie" is left off of the Table of Contents, but on other sites that piece is shown included. Try Googling it.)

Now the following arrangement is easier than Gerald Martin's, but it is still fun!

Download Old Joe Clark piano sheet music with chords in left hand

It is exactly the same melody, and same chords, but written so that one person can read and play the whole song without a duet partner. The penultimate F# chord brings a smile to students' faces the first time I play it for them!

Enjoy this free easy sheet music! And thanks for stopping by.

Do You Have Questions or Comments About This Page?

Do you have a funny story about this music, or does it remind you of something you'd like to share with other readers? Do you have a question? We'd love to hear it!

Back to Beginner Piano for more printable free music

Home for more free sheet music