Easy Piano Songs for Beginners, With Letter Notes

A collection of easy piano songs you can play right now on your computer keyboard or touchscreen. Each tune is written in letter notes, so there is no need to read sheet music. Press Play on Piano to open it on the keyboard and follow along one note at a time.

How do I read letter notes?

Letter notes write every piano key as a single character, the same characters printed on the keys of the ScreenPiano virtual piano. Numbers and lowercase letters are white keys. Symbols and capital letters are black keys, which you play by holding Shift. Characters inside square brackets are pressed together as a chord. Read each line from left to right. The spacing shows the rhythm: letters written together are played quickly, a space is one beat, and each | adds a longer pause, usually at the end of a phrase.

Under each title you will see how many keys the tune needs. A phone held upright shows about 13 keys, while a laptop shows many more, so choose songs that fit the keys you have. You can also type the letters on a computer keyboard, which works at any keyboard size.

Every song here is either in the public domain or written by us as an original exercise. We do not include modern pop songs because their sheet music is protected by copyright. See credits and attribution for where each tune comes from.

Beginner piano songs

Short tunes that stay close together on the keyboard. Start here if you have never played before.

Mary Had a Little Lamb

Traditional · 26 notes · Playable on 13+ keys

u y t y u u u |
y y y | u o o |
u y t y u u u u
y y u y t

Traditional 19th-century nursery rhyme melody, in the public domain globally, transcribed by hand for 61-key ScreenPiano.

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

Traditional · 42 notes · Playable on 13+ keys

t t o o
p p o |
i i u u
y y t |
o o i i
u u y |
o o i i
u u y |
t t o o
p p o |
i i u u
y y t

Traditional French melody Ah! vous dirai-je, maman (1761), in the public domain globally, transcribed by hand for ScreenPiano.

Hot Cross Buns

Traditional · 17 notes · Playable on 13+ keys

u y t |
u y t |
ttttyyyyu y t

Traditional English street cry and nursery rhyme dating back to the 18th century; public domain globally.

Row, Row, Row Your Boat

Traditional (Eliphalet Oram Lyte) · 27 notes · Playable on 13+ keys

t || t || t | y u ||
u | y u | i o |||
s s s o o o u u u t t t
o | i u | y t

Traditional American nursery rhyme published in 1852 by Eliphalet Oram Lyte; public domain globally.

Baa, Baa, Black Sheep

Traditional · 52 notes · Playable on 13+ keys

t t o o ppppo |
i i u u y y t |
o ooi i u uuy |
o o o o i i i u u y t |
t t o o ppppo |
i i u u y y t

Traditional nursery rhyme melody dating from the 18th century, transcribed in C major for ScreenPiano; public domain globally.

Frère Jacques (Are You Sleeping?)

Traditional · 32 notes · Playable on 13+ keys

t y u t
t y u t
u i o |
u i o |
opoiu t
opoiu t
t o t |
t o t

Traditional French nursery round dating from the 18th century, arranged in C major for 13-key keyboard; public domain globally.

London Bridge Is Falling Down

Traditional · 24 notes · Playable on 13+ keys

opoiuio
yui
uio
opoiuio
y o ut

Traditional English nursery rhyme originating in the Middle Ages; public domain globally.

Easy piano songs

Slightly longer melodies that move across more keys, including hymns, carols and classical themes.

Jingle Bells

James Pierpont · 26 notes · Playable on 13+ keys

u u u |
u u u |
u o t y u |||
i i i i
i u u uuu y y u
y | o

James Pierpont (1857), in the public domain globally, transcribed by hand for ScreenPiano.

Ode to Joy (An die Freude)

Ludwig van Beethoven · 62 notes · Playable on 37+ keys

u u i o
o i u y
t t y u
u y y |
u u i o
o i u y
t t y u
y t t |
y y u t
y uiu t
y uiu y
t y w |
u u i o
o i u y
t t y u
y t t

Ludwig van Beethoven Symphony No. 9 theme (1824), in the public domain globally, transcribed by hand for ScreenPiano.

Happy Birthday to You

Mildred & Patty Hill · 25 notes · Playable on 25+ keys

oo p o
s a |
oo p o
d s |
oo h f
s a p |
gg f s
d s

Melody published in 1893 (Good Morning to All by Mildred and Patty Hill); the melody is in the public domain in the United States, while copyright status may vary in other jurisdictions.

Joy to the World

Lowell Mason (after Handel) · 56 notes · Playable on 13+ keys

s apo i u y t |
op pa as ||
s s a p o o i u |
s s a p o o i u |
u u u u u i o |
i u y y y y y u i |
u y t s p o i u y t

Christmas carol written by Isaac Watts, melody arranged by Lowell Mason (1839); public domain globally.

Deck the Halls

Traditional Welsh · 68 notes · Playable on 37+ keys

o i u y t y u t
yuiyu y t r t |
o i u y t y u t
yuiyu y t r t |
y u i y u i o y
uio pas a p o |
o i u y t y u t
yuiyu y t r t

Traditional Welsh New Year carol melody Nos Galan dating back to the 16th century; public domain globally.

Silent Night (Stille Nacht)

Franz Xaver Gruber · 46 notes · Playable on 37+ keys

y u y r ||
y u y r ||
p | p I ||
o | o y ||
u | u o I u
y u y r ||
u | u o I u
y u y r ||
p | p s p I
o ||| a |||
o y r y t e w

Austrian Christmas carol composed in 1818 by Franz Xaver Gruber; melody in the public domain globally.

When the Saints Go Marching In

Traditional Spiritual · 33 notes · Playable on 13+ keys

t u i o |||
t u i o |||
t u i o | u | t | u | y |||
u u y t || t u | o o o i |||
u i o | u | t | y | t

Traditional American spiritual; melody in the public domain globally.

Oh! Susanna

Stephen Foster · 55 notes · Playable on 13+ keys

tyu o o p o u t y u u y t y ||
tyu o o p o u t y u u y y t ||
i i p p p o o u t y |
tyu o o p o u t y u u y y t

American minstrel song written by Stephen Foster in 1848; public domain globally.

Amazing Grace

Traditional (New Britain) · 31 notes · Playable on 37+ keys

w t | utu | y t | e w |
w t | utu | y o ||
u o | u o | u t | e w |
w t | utu | y t

Traditional hymn melody New Britain published by William Walker in Southern Harmony (1835); public domain globally.

Auld Lang Syne

Traditional Scottish · 58 notes · Playable on 37+ keys

w t t t u y t y
u t t u o p |
p o u u t y t y
u y t e e w t ||
p o u u t y t y
p o u u o p |
s o u u t y t y
u y t e e w t

Traditional Scottish folk song collected by Robert Burns (1788); melody in the public domain globally.

We Wish You a Merry Christmas

Traditional English · 52 notes · Playable on 37+ keys

w t tytre e
e y yuytr w
w u uiuyt e wwe y r t ||
w t t t r | r t r e w |
y u y t o o e e e y r t

Traditional English 16th-century West Country carol; melody in the public domain globally.

Brahms' Lullaby (Wiegenlied)

Johannes Brahms · 40 notes · Playable on 25+ keys

u u o |
u u o |
u o s a p p o |
y u i y |
y u i |
y i a s d a s |
t t s a p o |
u i o t u y t

Johannes Brahms Wiegenlied Op. 49 No. 4 (1868); public domain globally.

What should I learn after these songs?

Once the melodies feel comfortable, try playing chords with your left hand. The piano chord chart shows the notes of each chord in all 12 keys and lets you hear them.