Piano Notes for Kids
The Music Alphabet

Piano notes for kids in the song "The Music Alphabet" can help beginners relate note reading to the piano keyboard!  

I wrote this little song for someone who is brand-new to note reading and even the names of the piano keys, but who has an analytical mind, and finds exercises intriguing rather than tedious!

My husband, in other words, whose brain is ahead of his fingers.  

A new musician, he is struggling to combine fingers with piano keyboard with note reading!  So perhaps "Piano Notes for Kids" should be changed to "for kids of all ages... "

Please scroll down the page for the download links.

Does this song seem easy?

Simple as this song is, to be able to play The Music Alphabet, students must:

• Be able to find Middle C on the piano keyboard
• Be able to identify Middle C on the grand staff
• Understand the layout of the grand staff, and where left & right hand "territories" lie
• Be able to follow a line of notes up and down (for help with that, acquaint them with "Wormies")
• Be able to read at least well enough to say "A, B, C, D, E, F, G!"

And you can probably think of more things...

So how would I start with this piece?  Although the words of the song say "Place your thumbs on Middle D," it doesn't have to happen that way.  

Fingering isn't that important here

A student could just play the whole song with "pointer" finger, with one hand.  That might make sense.  

I said "thumbs on middle D" because I know what happens when the thumbs share Middle C; the right hand always plays the C even if it is written for the bass clef to play.

Sequential notes & patterns are easy for beginners

My husband thought this was fun to play; what I think is fun is being able to recite the musical alphabet forwards and backwards 3 times in a row very fast, so that you can carry that skill to the piano keyboard and look at the piano keys and know what the names of the keys are, going left down the keyboard.

Hope some of your students find this piece helpful and even a little bit fun!

The link for the piano  music:

Download piano notes for kids song "The Music Alphabet"

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!

Boil'em Cabbage Down - actually a fiddle piece, this makes a great piano duet with big sound.  One partner plays open chords, and the other partner plays a repetitive, energetic  melody.

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

Dipping Donuts - an easy-to-read song with repeated notes requiring a gentle dipping motion of the wrist and fingers.

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

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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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Lots of trolls in this book - including one who gives him a Christmas gift!

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Fro So:
You've done here a very good job! The most useful website for beginners in teaching!

Caroline:
I was looking for some easy (classical) pieces to play that wouldn't require much prep.

I hit the jackpot here with classical and other, Celtic, lovely tunes!  Thanks again!

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.