The melody of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star is one of the most famous in the world! It’s used for several nursery rhymes, such as Baa Baa Black Sheep or the Alphabet Song. But Twinkle Twinkle Little Star is still the most famous. When learning to play the piano, this easy piano song is an absolute must. It’s short, simple and very catchy, as well as being fairly easy for beginners to play. In this free lesson we will learn a little more about the song and show you how to play it on the piano. You can also download the lyrics with piano notation and sheet music for your practice or piano lessons with young beginners.
Origin of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
Twinkle Twinkle Little Star originates from a poem called “The Star”, written by English poet Jane Taylor and first published in 1806 in a collection called “Rhymes for the Nursery”, which she co-wrote with her sister Ann. The poem was later set to the tune of the French melody “Ah! vous dirai-je, maman” first published in 1761 and famously used in several nursery rhymes and classical pieces, including Mozart’s variations and other nursery rhymes. Over time, the combination of Taylor’s lyrics and the familiar melody has made “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” a timeless nursery rhyme known and loved by generations.
Piano Letter Notes for Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
This children’s song is often used for the first piano lessons with kids because they already know the song pretty well by singing and it’s one of the easiest melodies to play on the piano. However, young children don’t know how to read sheet music and know often a lot about music theory. That’s why it’s good to use the lyrics with letter notes in order to simplify learning and playing it for young beginners.
For beginners I would recommend labeling the piano keys with the notes. That helps them a lot in the beginning to find the right notes. 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 Twinkle Twinkle Little Star:
The following chart with the lyrics and the letters enables you to learn and play it in a very easy way:
You can also check the recording below in order to play along or to see if you got it right:
You can also play the song by using piano chords instead of the single notes. This is a bit more challenging but a good exercise. Immediate players can also combine right and left hand playing. But in the beginning you should start simple by mastering the melody with one hand!
Piano Sheet Music for Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
All the information about a music piece lies in the sheet music. However, sheet music is not super beginner-friendly because it requires some knowledge and learning in order to read it. That’s why lyrics with letter notes are used for kids and beginners. When you or your students know how to read sheet music then the proper sheet music is the right thing for you! Since Twinkle Twinkle Little Star is a pretty simple song, it’s also a good piece to learn reading sheet music with it.
Here are the music notes for Twinkle Twinkle Little Star:
Free PDF Printables for Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
Feel free to download and to share the lyrics with letter notes and the sheet music for your practicing or piano lesson!
Interested in instruments other than the piano? You can also find a free lesson on how to play Twinkle Twinkle Little Star on the guitar, ukulele or recorder.
