Itsy Bitsy Spider also known as Incy Wincy Spider in some countries, is a traditional children’s nursery. It has a very catchy melody that all young kids adore. During the song children can imitate different sounds and movements. In this lesson we will show how to play this great nursery rhyme on the piano and learn a bit about the background of the song. For young beginners we provide you the lyrics with the piano letter notes and for the more advanced players the sheet music.
Origin of Itsy Bitsy Spider
The song Itsy Bitsy Spider dates back to the early 20th century, with the earliest known publication appearing in “Camp and Camino in Lower California” by Arthur Walbridge North in 1910. But there it was released as an adult song, with “bloody blooming spider” instead of “itsy bitsy spider”. Unfortunately, the author and composer of the song are unknown. Its simple, repetitive lyrics tell the story of a determined spider climbing up a waterspout, only to be washed down by the rain, then climbing up again when the sun comes out. The song’s easy-to-remember words and accompanying hand motions have made it a staple in early childhood education.
Piano Letter Notes for Itsy Bitsy Spider
When you start playing the piano, you learn the basics first. But pretty soon you want to try your first easy piano songs. Normally, pianists use sheet music to learn how to play songs. However, most beginners don’t know how to read music when they start. That’s why it can be a good idea to just put the notes over the lyrics. We have created such versions for many different songs and also for Itsy Bitsy Spider to make learning and teaching easier.
But before you try to play the song, familiarize yourself with the location of each note on your piano keyboard that you will need to use for this song. Labeling the piano keys with the notes can be very helpful for young beginners. This will help them find the right notes right away. However, in order to reduce the student’s dependence on the piano key labels, you should remove them after the child can confidently play a few songs.
And be sure to check out our article on how to read piano notes, where we explain how to easily remember and find the piano keys on the keyboard, and how they correspond to the notes on the sheet music.
Here are the keys on the keyboard that you have to use for the song Itsy Bitsy Spider:
You probably notice that we need 2 different G notes, one low and one high G. This is difficult to indicate with simple letter notes on the lyrics and that’s why we put a ‘ symbol in order to make this distinction. So keep in mind, that ‘G is the lower G note and G is the higher G note.
The following chart with the lyrics and the letters enables you to learn and play the song in a pretty easy way:
Check the recording below in order to play along or to see if you got it right:
Intermediate players can also combine right and left hand playing. You can for example integrate some piano chords while playing Itsy Bitsy Spider. This is a bit more challenging but an excellent exercise.
Piano Sheet Music for Itsy Bitsy Spider
Can you read sheet music? Perfect, because all the information about a song is in the sheet music. It also makes it much easier to see the difference between the two G notes used in the song. Since Itsy Bitsy Spider is an easy piano song, it’s also a perfect piece to start learning and practicing reading music.
Here are the music notes for the Itsy Bitsy Spider:
Free PDF Printables for Itsy Bitsy Spider
You prefer learning or teaching with some worksheets that you can print out? No worries, you can download the lyrics with piano letter notes and the sheet music for free!
Interested in instruments other than the piano? You can also find a free lesson on how to play Itsy Bitsy Spider on the guitar and ukulele.
