- Notes49, 5 pitches
- RangeC4–G4
- Key hereC major
- Tempo120 bpm · about 32 s
- LevelEasy
Can a piano play Lightly Row?
Yes — every size 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.
- 49 keys✓ Plays as writtenIn C major, C4–G4 · load it
- 61 keys✓ Plays as writtenIn C major, C4–G4 · loaded above
- 88 keys✓ Plays as writtenIn C major, C4–G4 · load it
Lightly Row: piano letter notes
The large line is the key’s letter; a dot over it is the octave above middle C’s, a dot under it the octave below; the small line under it is the same note in do-re-mi. 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.
Lightly Row — piano letter notes (61 keys) · tonalics.com
Lightly Row letter notes as text
The same notes as plain text, one phrase to a line, to copy into a message or a document. A letter on its own is in the octave that starts on middle C (C4). Every note of this tune is in it. A comma marks a long note.
G E E, F D D C D E F G G G G E E, F D D C E G G C, D D D D D E F E E E E E F G G E E, F D D, C E G G C
Is there a both-hands version?
Not of Lightly Row, on this page. The left hand here is made by rule — three chords, one hand position — and it is only offered where that rule can be checked against a published harmonisation and agrees with it on most bars. This melody has no barred score in its sources to hang the chords on. The right hand above is the whole tune.
The 5 notes it uses
Lowest to highest, with how many times each is played. Learn these 5 and you can play the whole tune.
- CDo×5
- DRe×12
- EMi×15
- FFa×6
- GSol×11
What to expect on a piano
- It runs from C4 to G4, a fifth, using 5 different notes. That leaves 24 semitones unused below and 29 above.
- 75% of its moves are a step or a repeated note. The widest is a fifth, G4 to C4, at note 24.
- It is played on the white keys only.
- It covers 5 neighbouring white keys, so the right hand never moves: thumb on C4, one finger to a key.
About the tune
Lightly Row is the English name for the German children’s song “Hänschen klein”, whose words were written by the Dresden teacher Franz Wiedemann around 1860 to a folk melody already in circulation. The tune travelled further than the words did: it is sung with different texts across Europe, Japan and the Americas.
German folk song “Hänschen klein”, 19th century; the English “Lightly Row” uses the same melody. Public domain. More about Lightly Row →
Lightly Row on other instruments
The same melody, in each instrument’s own notation. It is not offered for the guzheng, which does not have the notes.
- Lightly Row — kalimba
- Lightly Row — mbira
- Lightly Row — handpan
- Lightly Row — oud
- Lightly Row — violin
- Lightly Row — cello
- Lightly Row — erhu
- Lightly Row — dulcimer
- Lightly Row — xylophone
- Lightly Row — marimba
- Lightly Row — glockenspiel
- Lightly Row — steel drum
- Lightly Row — ocarina
- Lightly Row — harmonica
- Lightly Row — trumpet
- Lightly Row — clarinet
- Lightly Row — saxophone
- Lightly Row — flute
- Lightly Row — recorder
- Lightly Row — tuba
- Lightly Row — euphonium
- Lightly Row — trombone
- Lightly Row — accordion
- Lightly Row — harp
- Lightly Row — lyre
More songs for the piano
- Hot Cross Buns
- Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
- Mary Had a Little Lamb
- Row, Row, Row Your Boat
- London Bridge
- Old MacDonald
- Frère Jacques
- Going Home (New World Largo)
All 36 piano songs · Christmas songs for piano · The online piano on its own