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Mary Had a Little Lamb

Traditional · Key of C major · 4/4 · ♩ = 92

Mary Had a Little Lamb is a 19th century American nursery rhyme whose tune stays on a few neighboring notes. Pianory’s arrangement is 8 bars in C major: the right hand sings a phrase, then the left hand repeats it an octave lower. The hands never play at the same time, which makes it a gentle first piece.

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What makes it tricky

The only real challenge is keeping your fingers in place when the hands take turns. The right hand plays C, D, E with fingers 1, 2, 3 and one G with finger 5; the left hand plays C, D, E an octave lower, with its thumb on the right-hand side. If the hand position is off at the start, you end up looking down at every note.

How to practice it

  1. Listen once, then pick Right hand and play at 50% until you no longer need to look at the keys.
  2. Pick Left hand and do the same. On the left hand the thumb is closest to middle C, so the finger numbers run the other way.
  3. Pick Both, then play at 75% and 100%. The hands only take turns, so the part to practice is the hand-off from one to the other.