Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

Twinkle Twinkle, Little Star for beginner piano and late elementary piano students.  Starting with a plain melody on middle C, your students can add left hand chords.

And the first arrangement of Twinkle, with chord symbols... 

Please scroll down the page for the free downloadable PDF links:

Please scroll down the page for the download links.

Multiple arrangements of Twinkle

Look down the page for SIX versions, from super-easy (music with letters!) to a broken chord left hand accompaniment.

 Here is a rather sweet video of this nursery song by "Super Simple Songs":

The next arrangement is the same as the first one, above, but I added fingering in line one to show how finger replacement can work to make the reach up to "a" smooth:

Please scroll down the page for the download links.

In spite of the fingering I have placed in the music - the five to four and four to five - your student is most likely to COMPLETELY IGNORE those helpful suggestions and just play "1 - 1 - 5 - 5 - 5 - 5 - 5..."  or something like that!  

It's up to you, the teacher, to ingrain the finger replacement technique into your student AT SOME POINT; is now the time?  

Is finger replacement necessary in Twinkle?

In their method books, they may not encounter this skill for a while, but in this song, it is easy to understand and imitate, if you take them through the process every week until they GET IT.

But... it depends on you and what you think is most beneficial at this stage of your student's learning.  Perhaps just reading the notes and adding left hand chords in the coming weeks will be accomplishment enough!  

Finger replacement is actually a difficult and advanced technique, though eventually we hope that it will become second nature to our piano students.

Different approaches to chords

What's the easiest way for beginners to start with chords?

Probably just a single note in the left hand.  I tell students this is like playing a bass guitar part.  Using the sheet with chord symbols, I have them use their "pointer" finger - left hand! - to play each chord symbol key.  (After that makes sense, have them try the chords with fingers 5, 2, & 1.)

C - F - C - F - C - G7 - C...

Yikes - what about G7?  Tell them it is the same as G, for now.  

Keep the hands separate, like a duet

I suggest not rushing to put hands together, unless they are eager to try it.

What about fuller chords?

The following arrangement of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star shows how chords can be added to this song:

Please scroll down the page for the download links.

Starting with a triad C chord is always an easy way to begin with the left hand... if you have started your pianists with easy chord inversions, this left hand accompaniment will be a snap for them!

A "little F" chord just requires the thumb to stretch to an "a", and the G7 chord can be a "pinch" - "g" and "f" side-by-side.  

See the version AFTER the one below, to see the chords spelled out in the bass staff.

A pretty arrangement

Following is a broken chord version of this little song that is very pretty.  

I set it high (good practice for your late elementary/ early intermediate students, to read the left hand in treble clef!) where it has a delicate sound:

Please scroll down the page for the download links.

Transposing this arrangement is excellent practice for your late intermediate students who need to firm up their chord inversions in all keys.  

Actually, transposing ANY of the arrangements on this page would be useful, but this one with the broken chords is very pleasant to play!

Easy versions to read, with letters in the note heads

Here are the VERY EASIEST approaches to Twinkle Twinkle, below; a version entirely composed of music notes with letters inside, and a "helper" version that has only a few lettered music notes.  

Here is what the Helper version looks like:

Download links for the plain melody:

Download children's song "Twinkle Twinkle" for beginner piano students

Download Twinkle melody with fingering

Download links for melody plus left hand, and fancier Twinkle:

Download Twinkle with left hand chords and notes spelled out in the bass

Download broken chord arrangement, with high melody

Download Twinkle with letters in the notes, two versions:

Download Twinkle Twinkle sheet music with lettered notes (not shown)

Download Twinkle music with only a FEW notes with letters inside

Check out a fancy version of the Pachelbel Canon that even elementary students can play!

Check out more easy songs with a reach of just 6 or 7 notes:

Egyptian Dance - not as hard as it sounds! Very mysterious & beautiful.

I'm a Pirate - a good song for imaginative young kids! Several settings.

Indian Dance - one of the most popular & accessible songs for beginners here

Irish Wedding (easy version) - all my students want to play this high-energy song!

Kum Ba Yah - very pretty and easy - just 6 notes.

Lavender's Blue - young girls love this music, especially if they have seen Lily James' Cinderella!

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star - simple or even beautiful, depending on the accompaniment.  Very useful for learning chords & transposition.

Winds in the Willow - scale practice disguised as a mysterious, pretty minor melody. 

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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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Doris:
Thank you so much for this website.

I have found just about everything that I need in music.

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I have been slowly giving my oldest daughter whatever my memory can dredge up, scouring the internet for free music she can do, but your website with its instructions AND tips on how to teach pieces are going to help me SO much in this endeavor.

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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.