Piano Notes for Beginners
Two Songs

Piano notes for beginners on the staff - two little songs with just two notes each.

For left hand, Middle C and B; for right hand, Middle C and D. These little songs are perfect right after your student has learned what the staff and Middle C look like.

Please scroll down the page for the download links.

When to introduce these 2-note songs?

These easy little piano songs would be just right after completing Wormies, or to go along with Snakes.

But... it's only 2 notes!

You may think piano notes for beginners will not hold the interest of your young student. Well, it will, for at least one week, when these notes are new. After that, think about giving them Sharks.

Please scroll down the page for the download links.

Trickier than you'd think

How easy are little songs like these for beginners?

There are more skills involved in reading just two notes than you think.

The last student I gave "C & B" to played it all week at home with the right hand instead of the left. And why wouldn't he?  He is right-handed.

They will not see everything you write

Everything is new to beginning students

The grand staff is a new thing to him, and he is not yet a reader.  

I can write "Left Hand" - LH - or even draw a little hand diagram above or below the staff (the best idea!) at every lesson, and he may not "see" them!

Repetition, different ways

So more reinforcement is needed

When I saw that he had used the wrong hand at home, I quickly decided it was time to play the "Right-Left" game. Here's how it goes:

Big movements - a break from finger work

We push away from the piano a few inches so we don't whack our hands on the piano, and I try to fool the students as we each slap our right or left hand while I say,

"Right! Left! Top! Bottom! High -- Low. Treble -- Bass.Up! Down!"

All those directions are for either the right or the left hand.  We may also run our fingers along the keys, "Up," or "Down."

Trying to trick them is fun for both of you

Then, I mix the directions up. Eventually, the student will slap - or even just lift - the wrong hand, and they will smile.

Then I elevate my two hands to the music, right hand above the left, and say, "Top", indicating treble clef, and "Bottom," indicating the bass clef.

Quick breaks help keep students' attention

This is a fun game to break up a piano lesson any time your young student has been sitting and focusing too long!

The links for the two-notes songs:

Download piano notes for beginners for left hand

Download 2-notes piano song for right hand

More songs especially for new beginners:

ABC & CDE - Two little 3-note songs focused on the Middle C area, one for left hand and one for right

Black Keys songs - songs set to lyrics and poems, all on black keys!

C&B  & C&D - Left hand, then right hand, each play little songs with lyrics that make them fool-proof.

Dueling C's - a short song with 3 notes: B, Middle C, & D.  The thumbs of each hand are "fighting" for the Middle C - but the music makes it plain which hand really owns it.

Fuzzy Wuzzy - this song is about a bear that WASN'T fuzzy.  Quarter rests form part of the action! One-handed & two-handed arrangements.

Go Tell Aunt Rhody - the words might seem a bit gloomy, but this is a pretty tune that is old and famous.

God Is So Good - a sweet song with just five notes.

Greensleeves (What Child is This) - this sheet music is really just an accompaniment for the beautiful Christmas song: broken chords played in repeated sets, almost like an exercise, but very lovely.  And DO-ABLE!

Indian Dance - Though it sounds powerful (and even difficult with an added repetitive chord in left hand), it is very intuitive and repetitious, easily conquered in several lessons.

Jingle Bells - Is there a child who doesn't know this happy tune?  Its repeated notes make up for the "tricky" skips in the melody - plus there are lettered notes in some of the arrangements!

Lavender's Blue - this pretty song forms part of the drama of Cinderella's rescue by the prince in the newest Cinderella movie with Lily James...  little girls love to play this song!

Mary Had a Little Lamb on the white keys - even adults benefit from having this tune "in hand" - later they will learn much about using chords from simple little songs like this.

Monsters Everywhere - this is a very easy Halloween song that moves carefully in steps.

Music Alphabet Song - from A,B, & C in the left hand, through C, D, E, F, & G in the right hand, this song travels scale-wise through all the notes, to help a logical thinker conquer this concept.

Ode to Joy - like Mary Had a Little Lamb and Jingle Bells, this melody is well-known, and starts with finger 3 on E.

Peck! Peck! Peck! - a "shared-hands" melody, this cute song about chickens pecking on the ground to find their breakfast only moves by steps.

Pizza Please - Using just 3 notes, this song for left hand or right hand is actually Hot Cross Buns in disguise.

Sharks - Wait until kids have started working on the bass clef before you give them this dramatic 3-note song.

Snakes - the next step after students have conquered Wormies, this more intricate set of exercises is longer, with smaller note heads, but still moving just one step at a time in either direction

Snakes Go for a Walk (also called "Crickets Go Hopping") - More exercises like Wormies and Snakes, but with "skips" hiding amongst the steps in each line.  Line 1 has one hidden skip; line 2 has 2 hidden skips - you get the idea!

Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star - this song is so familiar that children will conquer it easily, especially because it moves by repeated steps.  Excellent for memorizing and transposing.

When the Saints Go Marching In - just 5 notes, with no stretches or replacements, make up this familiar song!

Wormies - This little set of exercises asks beginners to choose ANY white key, and then decide whether to move up, down, or stay there, by looking at the next note.  EASY.

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Interested in songs from the Bible for your students or church?  Check out my other website, SingTheBibleStory.com!

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Queen Esther in the Bible

This beautiful song book for piano & voice "Esther, For Such a Time as This",  available as a digital download, tells the riveting story of the time when  Jews in ancient Persia faced a foe named Haman, and how a  brave young queen risked her life to save her people.

A good choice for a singing story-teller, an operatic group, a short theater production, or a class of children!

This book is also available from Amazon as a paperback.

Just the Black Keys

This book is available as a digital download  from this site.  Visit this page to see some free examples from the book.

It is also available from Amazon as a paperback!

This is the perfect easy start for little pianists.

And when they start reading white-key notes on the staff, this is a fun easy resource to say each week, "Choose a new black-key song at home this week and figure it out to show me next lesson!"  They will be spending more time at the piano.

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With a red cap on his head and a sack of tools slung over his shoulder, Tonsta seems to meet people in distress wherever he goes.

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Kate:
Thanks again for your wonderful website and all your fabulous support!! Your website really has been the best resource that I have found for finding that 'right piece' for the students. 

Cheri in Vancouver, BC:
I was looking for sheet music for She Moves Thru the Fair since I'm beginning both mandolin and uke. I got far more than I bargained for reading your notes on this one song. Very insightful.

Cheryl:
AMAZING site!

Helps me a lot as a music teacher too. I'm a violin and piano teacher, and I think this is an incredible site!

About the Author

Dana Thynes

Hi, I'm Dana!  (Say that like "Anna".)  I'm the owner of Music-for-Music-Teachers.com, and a newer site, SingTheBibleStory.com.

Like some of you, I've been playing the piano since early childhood, and have added a few other instruments along the way, plus an interest in arranging and composing music.

You can find out more about me and the reason for this website at my About Me page.