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SongsMary Had a Little Lamb
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1 more song needs notes this instrument does not have. Changing the size or key brings some of them into reach.

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Traditional; Lowell Mason setting, 1831. Public domain.

29 notes · C4–E6 · 29 notes in three rings · The lead pan of a steel band, in the fourths-and-fifths layout almost every tenor is built in today.

Tap a note, or drag across them to roll from note to note. On a keyboard the letters on the notes are the ones to press — they climb the pan a semitone at a time from the low C.

Steel DrumFree · printable · plays in your browser

Mary Had a Little Lamb — Steel Drum Letter Notes

Mary Had a Little Lamb, written out for the steel drum as letter notes, phrase by phrase. Press Play to hear it, Practice to learn it one note at a time — the steel drum waits for you — or Play along to keep time with it.

  • Notes26, 4 pitches
  • RangeF4–C5
  • Key hereF major
  • Tempo104 bpm · about 17 s
  • LevelEasy

Can a steel drum play Mary Had a Little Lamb?

✓ Plays as written Every note of it is on the steel drum, in F major from F4 to C5. The check is made note by note against what the instrument can actually sound.

Mary Had a Little Lamb: steel drum letter notes

The large line is the note stamped on the pan; the small line under it is its number in the scale. 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 — steel drum letter notes · 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.

  • F1×3
  • G2×10
  • A3×11
  • C5×2

What to expect on a steel drum

  • It runs from F4 to C5, a fifth, using 4 different notes. That leaves 5 semitones unused below and 16 above.
  • 92% of its moves are a step or a repeated note. The widest is a minor third, A4 to C5, at note 12.
  • Its notes sit in 2 of the pan’s three rings, so the stick moves in and out as well as around.

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 steel drum

All 36 steel drum songs · Christmas songs for steel drum · The online steel drum on its own

Playing it on a real steel drum?

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

🎙 Open the Handpan Tuner