Jane Taylor · Key of C · Public domain
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This chart is written in C. Tap any key above the chart to see the whole song in that key, with every chord already worked out. To stay in C with different chord shapes, play it capo 3 with the A shapes, or capo 5 with the G shapes. Singing with a group? Pick the key where the highest note is comfortable for everyone, then print that page.
The words are a poem called The Star, written by Jane Taylor and published in London in 1806 in Rhymes for the Nursery, a book she wrote with her sister Ann. It has five stanzas; nearly everyone knows the first and almost nobody the rest, which follow the star through the night until the sun comes up. The tune is older and French: Ah! vous dirai-je, maman, a popular air first printed in 1761, which Mozart turned into a set of twelve variations for piano in the early 1780s.
Words and tune were first printed together in 1838, in an English school tune book, and they have been inseparable ever since. The same melody carries The Alphabet Song and Baa, Baa, Black Sheep, so a child who knows one knows the other two. Jane Taylor died in 1824 and the French air has no known composer: everything here is public domain.
Three chords, C, F and G, and the same pattern for every verse: C to start, F on "little", C on "star", then F, C, G, C through the second line. Lines three and four end on G, which hands you back to C for the refrain. Play it slowly with a down-up strum or a simple arpeggio, and sing the first two lines again as a chorus after each verse, the way the song has been sung for two centuries. In C the melody runs only a sixth, so it is comfortable for small voices; for a brighter sound tap G or D above the chart. It is the classic first three-chord song, and the F to G to C change is worth a hundred drills.
Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star in other easy guitar keys: key of D, key of E, key of F, key of G, key of A. Every other key is at the top of the chart.
Tap any chord for its diagram, other voicings, and the notes inside it.
In the key of C, Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star uses 3 chords: C, F and G. The chords sit over the words in the chart above, and tapping a chord name under Chords in This Song opens its diagram.
This chart is in the key of C. The other easy guitar keys for it are the key of D, key of E, key of F, key of G, key of A, each with the whole song rewritten. Pick the key whose chords you know, or the one that sits best for the singers: all twelve are one tap away at the top of the chart, with capo options for keeping the open shapes.
Yes. The words and the melody of Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star are in the public domain, which is why the full lyrics and chords are published here. You can print this sheet, hand it out, and perform or record the song anywhere without a license.
The same tune with different words: The Alphabet Song chords and lyrics
All the kids' song chord sheets, each one in every key.
Further reading: Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star (Wikipedia)
