Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star

Free beginner piano sheet music: C major, 4/4, 12 bars. Press Play to hear it on a real piano, slow it down, or hear one hand at a time; click any note to start from there; print it for the music stand.

The chords in this piece

Your left hand plays three chords in this piece. The shaded keys are the notes of each chord, and the numbers under them are the left-hand fingers (1 is the thumb). Each chord is a minim (two beats), so a chord is played on beats 1 and 3. All the common piano chords, with diagrams →

C C

C – E – G · Left hand 5 3 1

C, E and G: the home chord. Little finger on C, middle finger on E, thumb on G.

F F (C position)

C – F – A · Left hand 5 2 1

C, F and A. The same three notes as F major, rearranged so the little finger stays on C; the thumb stretches up one key to A.

G G (C position)

B – D – G · Left hand 5 3 1

B, D and G. The same three notes as G major, rearranged so the hand barely moves: the little finger slides down one key from C to B.

About this arrangement

The tune is an 18th-century French song (Mozart wrote variations on it) and the words are Jane Taylor’s poem from 1806. The right hand stays in one place with the thumb on middle C and stretches up to A for “lit-tle”. The left hand plays a chord on beats 1 and 3: C, F and G, the three chords almost every nursery song uses.

Practice tip: Learn the right hand alone first. The words tell you the rhythm: “Twin-kle, twin-kle, lit-tle star” is six short notes and a long one.

The words

Twinkle, twinkle, little star, how I wonder what you are! Up above the world so high, like a diamond in the sky. Twinkle, twinkle, little star, how I wonder what you are!

A short history

The melody is French. It was printed in Paris in 1761 as “Ah! vous dirai-je, maman”, a song in which a child complains to her mother, and within a few years it was so well known that Mozart wrote twelve variations on it for the piano (K. 265, around 1781).

The English words are a poem, “The Star”, by Jane Taylor, published in 1806 in Rhymes for the Nursery, a book she wrote with her sister Ann. The poem has five verses; most people know only the first.

The same tune carries the alphabet song and Baa, Baa, Black Sheep, which is why those three are usually the first things a child can sing from memory, and why Twinkle is the first piece in so many piano books.

Quick facts

Tune: Traditional (French, 18th century)
Words: Jane Taylor, 1806
Key: C major, C position
Time signature: 4/4
Length: 12 bars
Tempo: Steadily, crotchet = 100
Difficulty: Level 2: Left-hand chords (piece 12 of 201)
Type: Nursery rhyme
Hands: Both: melody in the right hand, chords in the left
Chords: C, F and G (diagrams above)
Copyright: Public domain tune; arrangement by Digital Greenhouse, free for personal and classroom use

Questions and answers

What key is Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star in?

C major, in 4/4 time. There are no sharps or flats in the key signature.

How long is it?

C major, 4/4, 12 bars. The tempo marking is Steadily, crotchet = 100.

Is Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star out of copyright?

Yes. The tune is traditional (French, 18th century); the words are by Jane Taylor, 1806. Our piano arrangement is free for personal and classroom use.

What is the hardest part?

Learn the right hand alone first. The words tell you the rhythm: “Twin-kle, twin-kle, lit-tle star” is six short notes and a long one.

Can I print it?

Yes. Press Print above to put this piece on its own page, or choose Save as PDF as the printer for a file. It prints on A4 paper; if yours is US Letter, choose US Letter in the box beside Print. The notes are the same size as a printed music book.

← More nursery rhymes · All 201 pieces: piano sheet music for kids

🔒 Runs entirely in your browser: nothing is uploaded and no account is needed. Once loaded, the page and the piano keep working offline.