Printable Music Notes for Beginning Piano
"Wormies"

Printable music notes are really all these "Wormies" consist of: simple exercises that creep slowly along.  This free sheet music for beginner pianists is a gentle, fun way to break into reading notes.  No understanding of correct fingering required - use the "pointer" finger!

The only question is "Which way does the note go?"

These Wormies are an easy way for very young musicians to try their hand at notereading. Treating the musical staff like a ladder, students ask themselves, "Up? Down? Or the same?" 

Start anywhere

Pick any key to start on -- you don't need to be able to find the correct place to start on the staff! The whole point of this exercise is just to determine the direction of the notes, not the actual note names. 

Printable music notes for beginning music reading


Download Printable Music Notes Wormies 

Forget about fingering

I ask students not to worry about good fingering. Using only their pointer finger (finger 2) and choosing any white note on which to begin, they go up or down the "ladder" as they read across each Wormie.

Don't play them too many times

Usually, I ask kids to play one Wormie a day just two times (to help prevent memorization!), and to try a different Wormie every day. At the next lesson, instead of hearing them play ALL the Wormies, I'll ask them to choose their favorite to play for me. It's usually number 4, because they know it's hardest!

No extra symbols to worry about

Notice that there are no clef symbols -- just a plain, uncluttered staff with lines and spaces. With notes made extra large on purpose, following the very short lines of "music" is pretty easy.

There's another version, longer & trickier

Snakes, which are just longer Wormies, is the next note-reading step. Very likely, your beginning notereaders can by-pass Wormies altogether...but even older beginners of ten and eleven love the simplicity of Wormies, and quickly grasp the principle of moving notes.

It's a beginning! 

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 - a whole page of songs set to lyrics and poems, all on black keys!

C&B  & C&D - Left hand, then right hand, 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.

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 arrangments!

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.

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 treble and bass clef with 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 - 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.

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.



Recent Articles

RSS

  1. Round Music from England, The Hart He Loves the High Wood

    An unfamiliar, pretty round, with poetic words from England of long ago. Not hard!

    Read More

  2. Note Reading Worksheets for Grand Staff & Single Staffs

    These note reading worksheets are different versions of grand staff, treble clef staff, and bass clef staff sheets. Free downloads!

    Read More

  3. Printable Piano Music What Do You Do With a Drunken or GRUMPY Sailor

    What Do You Do with a GRUMPY (or Drunken) Sailor: free printable piano music that might become your student's favorite for a long time! FOUR arrangements, and TWO sets of lyrics!

    Read More

  4. Heidi Evans, piano teacher

    My 13-year-old student loves House of the Rising Sun because he thinks it sounds like Star Wars music! Thank you for this amazing resource! Dana: Hi,

    Read More

  5. Slane (Be Thou My Vision)

    Greetings from Australia. I loved your posting on the beautiful Irish tune 'Slane'(Be Thou My Vision). The descriptions of the versions in different keys

    Read More



Sight Reading

Joy: I bought your Halloween Songs, wrote teacher accompaniment for some, and performed with 17 of my students in costume at an assisted living facility. It was a "win-win" situation. The kids and residents loved it and the parents were very pleased with the service aspect of their children's performance as well. Thank you for sharing these lovely pieces that introduce the minor key in a very simple and interesting way to early elementary students. 

Teaching Little Fingers to Play Children's Songs music book for piano

Kelly-Ann:
Thank you, Thank you, Thank you....I have a lot of books on graded pieces but not a lot of beginner pieces. I use material I have written myself together with books I encourage my parents to buy... but sometimes parents just can't afford a book- and as a teacher you sometimes do find your self searching for material....Thank you thank you thank you once again!

John Schaum's Teaching Little Fingers to Play (the piano!)








Sign up for "Take Note!" to see what's new every month.





Comments: Do you have a story or a question about music teaching? Share it!

Please note that all comments are moderated, and will not appear until I have approved them. Also, IF YOU ARE ASKING FOR MUSIC THAT IS NOT IN THE PUBLIC DOMAIN, YOUR REQUEST WILL BE IGNORED. That's pretty much any music written in the last 75 years...

What Other Visitors Have Said

Click below to see contributions from other visitors to this page...

Thanks for the Wormies! Not rated yet
Hi, I'm a music teacher working in Thailand and I have been frustrated that my students learn the song BEFORE they learn the notes. I mean they don't really …

Click here to write your own.

Comments

Have your say... Leave me a comment in the box below.