Easy piano songs
for beginners.
Free sheet music for songs you already know, set for beginners. Open one to hear it, slow it down and follow the keys, right in your browser.
Start here.
Three songs nearly everyone can hum, in the order we would teach them.
Songs everyone knows.
Nursery songs and folk tunes. A handful of white keys, the tune in the right hand.
- Mary Had a Little Lamb Traditional · Beginner Four notes, C, D, E and G, with a simple left hand.
- Hot Cross Buns Traditional · Beginner Three notes for the whole song: E, D and C.
- Row, Row, Row Your Boat Traditional · Beginner Eight bars in 6/8. The right hand climbs from G one step at a time.
- Frère Jacques Traditional · Beginner Eight bars in D major: four short phrases, each played twice.
- Baa, Baa, Black Sheep Traditional · Beginner Melody only, and the same tune as Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.
- The Itsy Bitsy Spider Traditional · Beginner Right hand only. The tune stays within one octave, D to D.
- Old MacDonald Had a Farm Traditional · Beginner C major. The hands take turns, one line each.
- The Wheels on the Bus Traditional · Beginner Eight bars that repeat, with one or two long notes a bar in the left hand.
- Yankee Doodle Traditional · Beginner G major, fingering marked, two-note chords in the left hand.
- Oh! Susanna Stephen Foster · Beginner Fingering marked. The verse moves by step and stays in one hand position.
- When the Saints Go Marching In Traditional · Beginner C major. Five notes in the right hand over steady chords.
- Amazing Grace Traditional · Beginner Built on five notes, so the hand keeps one shape for most of it.
- Chopsticks Euphemia Allen (as "Arthur de Lulli") · Beginner White keys only, built on an alternating F and G.
Famous tunes.
Melodies you have heard in films and adverts, in versions a beginner can play.
- Für Elise Ludwig van Beethoven · Late beginner Start with the famous opening theme, then add the rest section by section.
- Canon in D Johann Pachelbel · Beginner The tune is one four-bar phrase, played twice over a repeating bass.
- Minuet in G major Christian Petzold · Beginner Short, in G major, with repeats. A classic first piece for two hands.
- Greensleeves Traditional · Beginner A minor in three. Long phrases that rise and fall.
- Gymnopédie No. 1 Erik Satie · Late beginner Slow and quiet. The left-hand jumps are the main work.
- Brahms' Lullaby Johannes Brahms · Late beginner A simple melody in 3/4. The five flats are the real challenge.
- Sonata KV 331 - Tema (Theme) W. A. Mozart · Beginner The opening theme only, a singing melody in A major.
- Auld Lang Syne Traditional · Late beginner Chords in both hands, with the melody on top.
- Prelude in C major Johann Sebastian Bach · Late beginner One broken-chord pattern, repeated through every bar.
Christmas songs.
The carols everyone sings along to.
- Jingle Bells James Lord Pierpont · Beginner The chorus, all on white keys, built on repeated Es.
- Silent Night Franz Xaver Gruber · Beginner The left hand repeats one pattern almost all the way through.
- We Wish You a Merry Christmas Traditional · Beginner Seventeen bars in three, and a tune nearly everyone can sing.
- Deck the Halls Traditional · Beginner Sixteen bars in C major. The fa-la-la line steps up and down.
- Carol of the Bells Mykola Leontovych · Beginner One four-note phrase, repeated almost end to end.
- O Christmas Tree Traditional · Late beginner G major in 3/4, with a second note under the melody.
- Away in a Manger James R. Murray · Late beginner The hymn setting: two notes in each hand, moving together.
- The First Noel Traditional · Beginner Melody on one staff in C major, stepping up and back down.
What makes a song easy?
A song is easy on the piano when your hand can stay in one place. The easiest tunes use five notes or fewer, fit under the five fingers of one hand and move from one key to the next instead of jumping. Hot Cross Buns never leaves three notes. Mary Had a Little Lamb uses four.
The key matters too. A song in C major stays on the white keys, so there are no sharps or flats to find: Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Jingle Bells and When the Saints Go Marching In are all in C here. Even notes are easier than dotted or swung rhythms, and a song with repeats is shorter than it looks. Wheels on the Bus is eight bars, played again.
Last, it helps to know the tune. If you can hum it, your ear tells you when a note is wrong, long before you can read every note on the page.
How to learn your first song
- Pick a tune you can sing. Songs everyone knows are the best start, because you already know how they should sound.
- Right hand first. In most of these songs the tune is in the right hand. Learn it alone, then add the left hand.
- One phrase at a time. Loop the first line until it feels even, then move on. Most nursery songs are a few short phrases, often repeated.
- Slow down. Play it slower than you think you need. Speed comes once the notes are in your fingers.
- Then move up a level. Beginner songs keep to one hand position with a light left hand. Late beginner songs ask for more: chords in both hands, wider jumps, or keys with sharps and flats, like the five flats of Brahms' Lullaby.
Free sheet music, in your browser
Every song here opens as free interactive sheet music. Press Play to hear it, slow the tempo, loop a phrase and follow the keys on the on-screen piano. Turn on Wait for note and the song holds until you press the right key, on screen, on a MIDI keyboard or on your own piano through the microphone. To print, each song page has a PDF download with a free account.
Your song is not here?
Name any song, paste a YouTube link or upload a recording. Pianodemy arranges it for piano at Easy, Normal or Advanced, so the notes fit your hands.
Arrange my songGood to know.
What is the easiest song to play on piano?
Hot Cross Buns uses three notes, E, D and C, in the right hand. Mary Had a Little Lamb adds one more. Twinkle Twinkle Little Star is the next step, with the tune climbing from C up to A.
Are these songs free?
Yes. The sheet music for every song here is free to play in your browser: press Play to hear it, slow it down and loop a phrase. Playing them as a game is free for 3 pieces with an account.
Can I print the sheet music?
Yes. Every song page has a Download PDF button. It asks for a free account, then the PDF is yours to print. MusicXML is there too, for notation apps.
Can I learn a song that is not on this list?
Yes. Name any song, paste a YouTube link or upload a recording, and Pianodemy arranges it for piano at Easy, Normal or Advanced. Your first song is free with an account.
Do I need to read music?
Not to start. Each song plays with an on-screen keyboard that shows the keys as the music goes, and Wait for note holds the song until you play the right key. The sheet music sits above it for when you want to learn to read it.