Mary Had a Little Lamb

• Rangefifth
• Notes26, 4 different
• ScalePentatonic
• Length hereabout 17 s

About Mary Had a Little Lamb

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.

The melody uses three notes for nearly all of its length and four in total, which puts it alongside Hot Cross Buns as a first tune on almost any instrument.

Play Mary Had a Little Lamb on your instrument

27 of the 27 playable instruments here have every note it needs. 27 play it where the library writes it; the rest move it to another key or octave, and each page says which. Every page has the instrument itself, with the song loaded, above the notes.

• Kalimba tabsas written · C4–G4 · fifth
• Piano letter notesas written · C4–G4 · fifth
• Mbira tabsas written · C4–G4 · fifth
• Guzheng tabsas written · D4–A4 · fifth
• Handpan tabsas written · C4–G4 · fifth
• Oud notesas written · C3–G3 · fifth
• Violin notesas written · C4–G4 · fifth
• Cello notesas written · C3–G3 · fifth
• Erhu notesas written · D4–A4 · fifth
• Dulcimer tabas written · D4–A4 · fifth
• Xylophone letter notesas written · C4–G4 · fifth
• Marimba letter notesas written · C4–G4 · fifth
• Glockenspiel letter notesas written · C4–G4 · fifth
• Steel Drum letter notesas written · F4–C5 · fifth
• Ocarina notesas written · C4–G4 · fifth
• Harmonica tabsas written · C5–G5 · fifth
• Trumpet notesas written · C4–G4 · fifth
• Clarinet notesas written · C4–G4 · fifth
• Saxophone notesas written · C4–G4 · fifth
• Flute notesas written · G4–D5 · fifth
• Recorder notesas written · C4–G4 · fifth
• Tuba notesas written · B♭1–F2 · fifth
• Euphonium notesas written · B♭2–F3 · fifth
• Trombone notesas written · B♭2–F3 · fifth
• Accordion letter notesas written · C4–G4 · fifth
• Harp letter notesas written · C4–G4 · fifth
• Lyre tabsas written · C4–G4 · fifth

Mary Had a Little Lamb letter notes

Written in C major, from C4 to G4, with each note’s number in the scale under it — the form that transfers to any instrument. A dash holds a note another beat, an underline is half a beat, and each line is one phrase.

Where these notes come from

Traditional; Lowell Mason setting, 1831. Public domain.

No lyrics are printed on this page or any other here: these pages are about a melody and how to play it.

More nursery rhymes & first tunes

• Hot Cross Buns18th century
• Lightly Row19th century
• Twinkle Twinkle Little Star1761
• Row, Row, Row Your Boat1852
• London Bridge1744 (rhyme)
• Old MacDonald1917 (in this form)
• Frère Jacques18th century