Twinkle Twinkle Little Star – Traditional

About this piece

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star sets English words to an older French melody, Ah ! vous dirai-je, maman, which was already well known in the 18th century. The words come from a poem by Jane Taylor published in the early 1800s, and Mozart famously wrote a set of piano variations on the same tune. The melody is also shared with the alphabet song, which is one reason so many people learn it first.

This version is longer than the short nursery tune you may remember, running 1:40 in 4/4 at 96 bpm. The hands play separate parts across a range from C3 to A6, so it reaches higher than a simple beginner melody and gives both hands real work to do. Because the melody is in the public domain, the full piece plays here, and you will find the sheet music further down the page.

Beginners can start in Wait mode with the right hand only, letting the music pause on each note until you press it. Turn on note names to connect the falling bars with the keys, and slow the speed to 50 % for the first few runs. When the right hand is comfortable, practise the left hand alone, then play both together. Loop any passage that climbs into the higher notes with A–B until it feels easy, and use a count-in before each attempt.