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Itsy Bitsy Spider - Piano Sheet Music (Easy Version)

Traditional early 20th century C major 6/8 Beginner 0:21 Both hands

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Itsy Bitsy Spider climbs, falls and climbs again, and so does the melody: it walks up from C to E, rises to G when the rain comes down, and finds its way home to C. This easy version gives you the whole song in C major, with the melody in the right hand and one long bass note per bar in the left, C or G. There are no black keys at all. The rhythm is a gentle six-eight, long-short like a rocking chair: say "the it-sy bit-sy spi-der" as you play the first bar and the rhythm comes by itself.

How to play it

How to play Itsy Bitsy Spider on the piano

Right hand

Start on the G below middle C, then: C C C D E E, E D C D E C. The rain: E E F G, G F E F G E. The sun: C C D E, E D C D E C. Then G G and the first line again.

Left hand

One note per bar, held for the whole bar: C below middle C for most bars, a low G under "up the water spout" and the other lines that end on D or F.

Tricky passages

The pickup: the song starts on a single G before the first full bar, on "The". Play it short and land on the C of "it-" on the beat.

Fingering

Thumb on middle C, fingers on C D E F G: C with 1, D with 2, E with 3, F with 4, G with 5. For the low G at the start, play it with the thumb, then move the hand back up to C.

Notes

Itsy Bitsy Spider piano notes

The right-hand melody of this version, bar by bar, in letter names and in Do Ré Mi. Sharps are written #, flats b; a note held across a bar line is written once.

Melody: G C C C D E E E D C D E C E E F G G F E F G E C …

BarNotesDo Ré Mi
Pickup G Sol
1 C C C D Do Do Do Ré
2 E E E Mi Mi Mi
3 D C D E Ré Do Ré Mi
4 C E Do Mi
5 E F G Mi Fa Sol
6 G F E F Sol Fa Mi Fa
7 G E C Sol Mi Do
8 C D E Do Ré Mi
9 E D C D Mi Ré Do Ré
10 E C G G Mi Do Sol Sol
11 C C C D Do Do Do Ré
12 E E E Mi Mi Mi
13 D C D E Ré Do Ré Mi
14 C Do
Chords

Chords in Itsy Bitsy Spider

The chords this arrangement holds for at least two bars, read from the score with the root in the bass. Each one opens its page: the notes, every inversion and the fingering, playable on a piano.

The piece is in C major: all the chords of the key

About the piece

About Itsy Bitsy Spider

Nobody knows who wrote Itsy Bitsy Spider. The song was sung by children long before it was printed, and it appears in American collections of songs and finger plays in the early 20th century, with small differences in the words from one region to another.

It is a finger play: while they sing, children touch thumb to finger to show the spider climbing, wiggle their fingers for the rain and draw a big circle for the sun. In Britain the spider is often incy wincy instead of itsy bitsy.

This transcription: Traditional children's song, the tune as sung today; melody in C major, left hand by GOONS Studio. Transcribed by GOONS Studio from the original work, which is in the public domain.

For kids: Itsy Bitsy Spider by colors, on a rainbow piano that lights the next key and waits.

An upright piano in a playroom at night, a tiny spider on a silver thread, rain on the window and the sun breaking through
Itsy Bitsy Spider, as imagined by GOONS Studio (AI illustration)
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In the studio

Practise with your MIDI keyboard, record your take, export MIDI

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Questions

Itsy Bitsy Spider on piano: frequently asked

What are the notes of Itsy Bitsy Spider on piano?

In C major: G C C C D E E, E D C D E C, E E F G, G F E F G E, C C D E, E D C D E C, then G G C C C D E E, E D C D E C. Only white keys, around middle C.

Is Itsy Bitsy Spider easy for beginners?

Yes: level 1 of 5. The melody stays within five notes, C to G, with one low G, and the left hand plays one note per bar.

Is it Itsy Bitsy Spider or Incy Wincy Spider?

Both: it is the same song. Itsy Bitsy is the usual name in America, Incy Wincy in Britain and Australia, and the tune is the same.