🎹 10 easy songs to learn first on any instrument
The best first song uses three to five notes, repeats itself, and is one the child already knows by heart. These ten are ranked from fewest notes to most. Each has a song sheet on Peabody you can move into any key.
Hot Cross BunsOurs
Three notes, going down and back. Many children's very first song on recorder or piano.
Mary Had a Little LambOurs
Four notes and lots of repeats: the same three notes again and again.
Twinkle, Twinkle, Little StarOurs
Six notes in a simple pattern: up, then step by step back down.
Row, Row, Row Your BoatOurs
Easy to play, and fun to sing as a round once two people can play it.
Frère Jacques (Are You Sleeping?)Ours
Every line is played twice, so you learn half a song and get a whole one.
Baa, Baa, Black SheepOurs
The same tune as Twinkle, with different words: a free second song.
London BridgeOurs
Five notes and a tune everyone knows.
This Old ManOurs
A counting song with a bouncy rhythm, good for practising steady beats.
Old MacDonald Had a FarmOurs
A little longer, with a jump in the middle, and endless verses for the animals.
The Alphabet SongOurs
The Twinkle tune again, all the way to Z. A good test of a whole song from memory.
More music lists
- 10 pieces of classical music kids loveTen pieces of classical music children love on first listen, from In the Hall of the Mountain King to The Entertainer, with listening maps that show what to hear.
- The 10 best first instruments for kidsTen good first instruments for kids, from the voice and hand drums to piano, ukulele and recorder: what each is good for, and how to try one before buying.