TonalicsJOURNALOpen Tuner
‹ Steel Drum songs
SongsTwinkle, Twinkle, Little Star
Play a different song (35)

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

Play along
  1. 1
  2. 1
  3. 5
  4. 5
  5. 6
  6. 6
  7. 5
  8. 4
  9. 4
  10. 3
  11. 3
  12. 2
  13. 2
  14. 1
  15. 5
  16. 5
  17. 4
  18. 4
  19. 3
  20. 3
  21. 2
  22. 5
  23. 5
  24. 4
  25. 4
  26. 3
  27. 3
  28. 2
  29. 1
  30. 1
  31. 5
  32. 5
  33. 6
  34. 6
  35. 5
  36. 4
  37. 4
  38. 3
  39. 3
  40. 2
  41. 2
  42. 1

Traditional — melody is "Ah! vous dirai-je, maman", published 1761. 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

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star — Steel Drum Letter Notes

Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star, 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.

  • Notes42, 6 pitches
  • RangeF4–D5
  • Key hereF major
  • Tempo100 bpm · about 29 s
  • LevelEasy

Can a steel drum play Twinkle Twinkle Little Star?

✓ Plays as written Every note of it is on the steel drum, in F major from F4 to D5. The check is made note by note against what the instrument can actually sound.

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star: 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

Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star — steel drum letter notes · tonalics.com

The 6 notes it uses

Lowest to highest, with how many times each is played. Learn these 6 and you can play the whole tune.

  • F1×6
  • G2×6
  • A3×8
  • B♭4×8
  • C5×10
  • D6×4

What to expect on a steel drum

  • It runs from F4 to D5, a major sixth, using 6 different notes. That leaves 5 semitones unused below and 14 above.
  • 90% of its moves are a step or a repeated note. The widest is a fifth, F4 to C5, at note 3.
  • 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 melody is French: “Ah! vous dirai-je, maman”, first published in Paris in 1761. Mozart wrote a set of twelve piano variations on it in the early 1780s, and in English it has carried three different rhymes — this one, the alphabet song and Baa Baa Black Sheep all share the tune.

Traditional — melody is "Ah! vous dirai-je, maman", published 1761. Public domain. More about Twinkle Twinkle Little Star →

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star 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.

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