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Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star: guitar chords and tab for beginners
France, 1761
Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star
by Traditional
- Tempo
- 96beats per minute
- Count
- 4beats in each bar
- Key
- C majorthe home note
- Level
- 1 of 3easiest
Level 1. Strum one chord per beat. Start here.
Chord names above, strum arrows below. Down arrow = strum down toward the floor, up arrow = back up.
Hold this chord
Coming up: F
How to read it
- Red cross: don’t play that string. Skip it when you strum.
- Green circle: play that string open, with no finger on it.
- Number: press there with that finger. 1 index, 2 middle, 3 ring, 4 pinky.
- Letters: the strings, thickest (low E) on the left to thinnest (high e) on the right.
Space bar plays and pauses. Left and right arrows jump a bar.
The chords
The chords in Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star
3 chords, open shapes apart from F: C, F, G7. 4 beats in each bar, 96 beats per minute, in C major.
C major
3 fingers
Fingers, notes, sound →F major
barre, 4 fingers
Fingers, notes, sound →G seven
3 fingers
Fingers, notes, sound →
In words: C major is x 3 2 0 1 0. F major is 1 3 3 2 1 1 (finger 1 flat across fret 1). G seven is 3 2 0 0 0 1. Numbers are frets, thick string to thin, and x means do not play that string.
About the song
The tune is a French folk song from 1761 that Mozart later wrote variations on. Every note is a quarter note on the beat, which makes it the best first melody there is: nothing to count, just one note per tap of the foot.
Questions people ask
- What chords are in Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star?
- Three chords: C, F and G7. F needs a finger laid flat across the neck, which is the hard part of this one.
- What key is Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star in?
- C major. The key control on this page moves it up or down, and tells you where to put a capo so you can keep the same easy shapes.
- Is Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star easy to play on guitar?
- Yes. It is one of the easier songs here: three chords at 96 beats per minute, and you can slow it to half speed while you learn it.
- What is the strumming pattern for Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star?
- Six strums in each bar: down, down, up, up, down, up. There are 4 beats in every bar. The arrows above the chord boxes move with the sound, so you can see the pattern as you hear it.
- How do I play Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star on guitar?
- Three ways on this page, all from the same arrangement. Chords mode strums one chord at a time, Melody mode picks the tune from the tab, and Fingerstyle mode plays the bass with your thumb under the tune. Start in Chords mode at 60 percent speed.
- Who wrote Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star?
- Traditional. France, 1761. The music is old enough to be in the public domain, so it is free to learn, play and record.
Learn more
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