Notalo › Piano songs with letters › Mary Had a Little Lamb
Mary Had a Little Lamb — piano notes with letters
The nursery rhyme melody in C major — no sharps or flats, and every note falls between middle C and G. A good first piece: the whole right hand sits in one five-finger position.
Traditional (rhyme published by Sarah Josepha Hale), 1830 · C major · 4/4 · public domain · arranged and labeled by Notalo
Hear it. A MIDI file of exactly these notes at 110 BPM — open it in any music app, or slow it down to practice.
Download MIDIAbout the song
The poem was published by Sarah Josepha Hale in 1830 and, according to Hale's own account, is based on a real girl in Massachusetts whose lamb followed her to school. The tune is the one Lowell Mason fitted to it a few years later. In 1877 Thomas Edison recited the first verse into his new phonograph, making it the first words ever recorded and played back.
How to play it, phrase by phrase
The first phrase is E D C D, E E E — the tune goes down two steps, back up, and repeats the E. 'Little lamb' is D D D, then E G G. Bars 5–8 are the same opening followed by E E E E, D D E D and a long C. The right hand never leaves the five notes C D E F G, so keep your thumb on C and one finger per note. This is a good first piece for reading letters: play each bar, say the letters out loud, then join them.
Letter notes, bar by bar (right hand)
Read left to right; a | is a bar line. Chord symbols are for the left hand or a guitar.
| Bar | Chord | Right-hand letters |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | C | E D C D |
| 2 | C | E E E |
| 3 | G | D D D |
| 4 | C | E G G |
| 5 | C | E D C D |
| 6 | C | E E E E |
| 7 | Em7 | D D E D |
| 8 | C | C |
Three things to watch
- Right hand never leaves the C-D-E-F-G position — no thumb-crossing needed.
- Bars 1 and 5 are identical; once you learn one you know both.
- Left hand is one chord per bar — C, then G, then back to C.
Have a different version, or a different song? Upload your own sheet music — a photo or PDF — and Notalo writes the letters under every note the same way, plus chords and a MIDI file.
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New to the staff? Start with how to read sheet music.
Frequently asked questions
Is this sheet music free to print and use?
Yes. Mary Had a Little Lamb is in the public domain and this arrangement was written and rendered by Notalo. Print it, share it, use it in lessons.
What do the colors mean?
Red letters are the right hand (treble clef), blue letters are the left hand (bass clef), green is the chord for the bar. This is the same output Notalo gives for any sheet music you upload.
Can I get it with Do Re Mi or numbers instead of letters?
Yes — download the image above, upload it to Notalo, and pick solfège (Do Re Mi), German letters, or numbers (1 2 3) as the label style.