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left handright handfoot jointB♭T123G♯B♭1D2D♯3E♭C♯Chead joint · left handright hand · foot jointB♭T123G♯B♭1D2D♯3E♭C♯C
C4concert pitch1st octavegentle air: the bottom of the tube
SongsMary Had a Little Lamb
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Traditional; Lowell Mason setting, 1831. Public domain.

37 notes · C4–C7 · three octaves · 37 notes · The standard concert flute: the foot joint ends at middle C.

Tap a note, or slide along them to slur from note to note in one breath. On a keyboard the letters on the notes are the ones to press — Q is the D above middle C and they climb a semitone at a time.

FluteFree · printable · plays in your browser

Mary Had a Little Lamb — Flute Notes

Mary Had a Little Lamb, written out for the flute as letter notes with the fingering drawn under each one and set up above on the C foot. Press Play to hear it, Practice to learn it one note at a time — the flute waits for you — or Play along to keep time with it.

  • Notes26, 4 pitches
  • RangeG4–D5
  • Key hereG major
  • Tempo104 bpm · about 17 s
  • LevelEasy

Can a flute play Mary Had a Little Lamb?

Yes — every one on this page plays it. The check is made note by note against what each one can actually sound. Where the tune does not fit as the library writes it, another key or octave is tried, and the table says which; where nothing fits, it names the notes that are missing.

  • C foot✓ Plays as writtenIn G major, G4–D5 · loaded above
  • B foot✓ Plays as writtenIn G major, G4–D5 · load it

Mary Had a Little Lamb: flute notes

The large line is the note, and the drawing is its fingering — a filled hole or key is one that is down. A dash holds the note another beat, an underline is half a beat, and a dot beside a note makes it half as long again. Each line is one phrase.

▶ Play it above

Mary Had a Little Lamb — flute notes (C foot) · tonalics.com

The 4 notes it uses

Lowest to highest, with how many times each is played. Learn these 4 and you can play the whole tune.

  • GG4×3
  • AA4×10
  • BB4×11
  • DD5×2

What to expect on a flute

  • It runs from G4 to D5, a fifth, using 4 different notes. That leaves 7 semitones unused below and 22 above.
  • 92% of its moves are a step or a repeated note. The widest is a minor third, B4 to D5, at note 12.
  • It is played on gentle air and faster air, and the air speed changes 2 times — a flute’s octaves are a speed of air, not a key.

About the tune

The poem is by Sarah Josepha Hale, published in Boston in 1830; the hymn composer Lowell Mason set it to this tune the following year. In 1877 Thomas Edison recited its opening lines to test his phonograph, which makes it the first verse ever recorded and played back.

Traditional; Lowell Mason setting, 1831. Public domain. More about Mary Had a Little Lamb →

Mary Had a Little Lamb on other instruments

The same melody, in each instrument’s own notation.

More songs for the flute

All 36 flute songs · Christmas songs for flute · The online flute on its own

Playing it on a real flute?

If it sounds wrong, check the instrument before the notes. The flute tuner listens through your microphone and names what each note is actually sounding.

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