If you’re completely new to the piano then you may not have fully grasped how to read sheet music. Having easy piano songs with letters means you can still play recognizable and fun songs without having to learn the ins and outs of classic music. We would always suggest that you do eventually pick up on musical theory but we’ve given you a starting point to learn to play just using letters.
Piano playing typically involves using both of your hands. In our list, we have a selection of songs that use one hand and then adding in the left to improve your skill level. A great tip is to learn each hand separately and then combine them together.
We haven’t given you the finger notation for these songs so just use the most logical option as you play through the piano songs. You want to be able to get around each note easily and in order. Never use the same finger to play all of the notes. Get used to using all of your fingers as this will be essential for you to grow as a pianist.
1. Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
Twinkle Twinkle is probably the first song anyone ever learns on the piano, especially younger students. Adults can benefit from learning this song at the beginning of their playing too. Get prepared to play by placing your right-hand thumb onto the middle C note. All of the notes you need for the song will now be sitting under your fingers apart from the highest note in the piece. This note is only one note above your pinky finger though so it won’t take much stretching.
Twinkle, twinkle, little star
C C G G A A G
How I wonder what you are
F F E E D D C
Up above the world so high
G G F F E E D
Like a diamond in the sky
G G F F E E D
Twinkle, twinkle, little star
C C G G A A G
How I wonder what you are
F F E E D D C
2. Happy Birthday
Happy Birthday is always a great song to keep in your back pocket because there will, at some point, be an occasion where you can play for someone else. Much the same as Twinkle Twinkle, you will take your right thumb and place it onto the middle C for the first half of the song. All of the notes fall under your fingers which makes it so ideal for beginners. However, to play the second part of the song you will have to jump up an octave from the middle C up to the next C on your keyboard. Play the highest C note using your little finger and then the rest of the song should fall back under your right-hand fingers once again. There is also an F# you will need to learn here too so make sure you understand where all of your sharp and flat notes are on the keyboard.
Happy birthday to you
D D E D G F#
Happy birthday to you
D D E D A G
Happy birthday dear name
D D B G F# E D
Happy birthday to you
C C B G A G
3. Jingle Bells
Jingle Bells has a chorus that is made up of a few simple notes which makes it a really easy piano song for any beginner to learn. The music notes are repeated over and over again and you should already know the tune. Knowing what a song sounds like before you play it makes it a lot easier to learn the piece compared to playing something that you’ve never listened to before. The verses are a little bit more complex here but they’re not so difficult that they will become impossible for a beginner.
Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way
E E E E E E E G C D E
Oh what fun it is to ride in a
F F F F F E E EE
One horse open sleigh
E D D E D-G
Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way
E E E E E E E G C D E
Oh what fun it is to ride in a
F F F F F E E EE
One horse open sleigh
G G F D C
4. Hallelujah
Now that you can play a few songs using only your right hand we’re going to start introducing your left hand into the mix. Any piece of music is built up of chords so making sure you know a few of the basic ones will be a great step towards playing anything you like. Hallelujah is the perfect song to start introducing some basic chords into your repertoire which will be easy to mix in with the melody of your right hand.
This song has been written in the key of C. First, let’s give you the left-hand notes which make up the bass progression. You will be using the C, A minor, F, G and E chords. Below you will see what notes make up these simple chord progressions.
C – C E G
A minor – A C E
F – F A C
G – G B D
E – E G# B
Here is the melody for your right hand to play. Please note that the up and down arrows mean to play either the higher or lower note for that specific letter. For example, in this piece the low E is the one by middle C and the high E sits an octave higher.
I’ve heard there was a secret chord
↓E G G G G A A A
That David played, and it pleased the Lord
↓E G G G G G A A A
But you don’t really care for music, do you?
G A A A A A G G F G G
Well it goes like this
↓E F G G G
The fourth, the fifth
G A A B
The minor fall, the major lift
B C C C C C C D
The baffled king composing Hallelujah
C D D D D ↑E E E D E C
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
↓E G A A A G ↓E E
Hallelujah, Haelelu-0000-jah
↓E G A A A G E F E D C
5. Bach’s Prelude in C Major
If you want to take a leap into more classical music then Prelude in C Major by Bach is probably the best place for you to start as a beginner. The song is a step up in terms of difficulty than the other songs we have mentioned to you in this list. You will be using both hands again but they will be moving up and down the keyboard more than the previous entries we’ve given you. The song has to be played with two hands to get the right feel and sound. However, it’s on the easier side of things because you don’t play two notes at the same time so they can still move almost separately from each other, even though you’re using both hands.
Take a listen to the piece and because some notes are sustained and held down, you don’t really even notice that the music notes aren’t played at the same time. Another thing that makes this an ideal piano song for a beginner is that the note patterns happen twice over. Once you understand the pattern for each measure of the song and you can play through it smoothly, you can repeat the same notes over again to form the same pattern for the next section of the song.
Looking at the sheet music for this piece may put you off because it does look complex and difficult. Don’t let this deceive you. Take the letters and play one note at a time to get the right end result. You can take advantage of the patterns that are repeated to look ahead at the next measures and make sure you are ready for what is going to be played next. For the letters below the RH refers to your right hand and LH refers to your left hand. This is only the first part of the song but we’ve also provided you with a tutorial video to play through the rest of the piece.
RH: G C E G C E G C E G C E A D F A D F
LH: C E C E C D
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RH: A D F A D F G D F G D F G D F G D F
LH: C D B D B D
______________________________________
RH: G C E G C E G C E G C E A E A A E A
LH: C E C E C E
______________________________________
RH: A E A A E A F# A D F# A D F# A D F# A D
LH: C E C D C D
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The piano isn’t always the most straightforward instrument to learn but tackling these songs will make your skills as a learner much stronger. With skills like these in place piano learning becomes a lot easier. Along with learning pieces like these you can make the most of your music education with apps and lessons that will take your playing to the next level. We hope you enjoyed our article and that you can play each of these songs with ease in no time at all.
FAQs
What are the easiest songs to play on piano?
The easiest songs for any piano player are usually your standard nursery rhymes such as Twinkle, Twinkle and Mary Had a Little Lamb. These kinds of songs can usually be found in easy piano sheet music books for beginners where you can learn how to play them properly.
What is the easiest song to play on the piano for beginners?
The easiest song for a beginner to start out with is Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star. The notes are simple and it can be played with just one hand and achieve a recognizable melody.
What is the easiest Disney song to play on piano?
I See the Light from Tangled is a really accessible and easy Disney piano song to play. Disney doesn’t make the easiest piano songs but this one has a nice, slow tempo that is ideal for beginners.
