Music at Peabody, for grown-ups

Free, no account, no ads. Everything a child taps here stays on the device it was tapped on.

What it is

• A chord finder for piano, ukulele and guitar: 36 chords (major, minor and seven on all twelve notes), each drawn, named, played and printable as a one-page chord card.
• 11 public-domain song sheets with the chords over the words. One tap moves a whole song up or down, into a key that fits a child’s voice, or into the key with the easiest shapes on your instrument. Each prints on one page.
• Note names: a note on the staff and three letters to choose from, in eight rungs from the treble lines to both clefs. A signed-in child’s grade picks the first rung.
• Beat Buddies (a loop maker that counts the bar in fours) and the sing-along, which lights each word as it is sung. Teachers can put the words of every song on the board in big type.

What it keeps

The instrument last picked, the key last chosen for each song, the note game’s rung and best rounds: in this browser’s storage, under one key. Nothing is typed, nothing is sent, and clearing the browser’s site data forgets it.

Where a song should sit for a child’s voice

Many songbooks print children’s songs in keys pitched for an adult. Peabody’s “Fits a small voice” button keeps a tune inside these ranges. They are Peabody’s settings, drawn from common classroom practice, not a rule; a music teacher may well choose differently.

• Pre-K to 2nd grade: D4 to B4
• 3rd to 5th grade: C4 to D5
• 6th to 8th grade: A3 to E5

How to help

1. Pick the song, then “Fits a small voice”.
2. Print the sheet, so the music is on paper and the screen can go away.
3. Play or sing for ten minutes, then stop while it is still fun.

Why these songs

Every song is in the public domain in the United States: its words and tune were published before 1931, and each sheet names where. Where the familiar English words could not be traced to an early printing (Frère Jacques’s, and the last two lines of the Alphabet Song), Peabody sings its own words instead. Peabody wrote out every tune and chord itself; nothing is copied from a songbook or a tab site, and no recording is used. Every sound is made in the browser.