Lesson Two Twinkle Twinkle
Source: Guitar Lessons
Twinkle Twinkle Little Star Have fun with this ol time favorite. Many more coming along!
About This Lesson:
This is a great second lesson to continue on with what we had learned in the last lesson. Just about every kid and adult knows this song very well and that is an important factor in our first few months of teaching these lessons. Let’s learn the familiar “Old Favorites” and have some real fun with the guitar. This will spike your kids’ interest and hopefully keep it spiked for a long time.
Also this allows us to slip in some theory, under the radar, because that is required for the proper playing of this and future songs. This song is played almost entirely on the Bass Strings. This will be a bit more challenging, but this IS and easy song, so we can get very familiar with the bass notes here.
Learning Points:
Quarter Notes: Most of this song is written in quarter notes. Each Quarter Note receives one beat of time. If you tap your foot, you play one Quarter Note every time you foot taps the floor. Quarter Notes have a solid black head and a stem.
Half Notes: There are a few half notes in the song. Give them 2 beats each, or 2 foot taps. Pick the note on the first beat and let it ring for the second beat. Half notes are easy to spot – they have an open head and a stem.
Tabulation: This is how I actually want you to learn this song. Look at the section on Simple TAB music instruction on this type of staff. Later we will be playing by note as well.
Note Names Notice that above each note is the name of that note. Once you are familiar with the song in a few days, as you play each note also say each note. You should try to do this at least 1/2 of the time you play it through.
About the Tab Notes:
All the timing is shown just below the upper staffs. There is 4 beats per measure and Quarter Notes receive that beat 4/4 time. This song has 12 total measures for a total of 48 beats (12×4). play it smooth as you can. Keep track of timing. Even though this song is 50% longer that our lesson one song, this one is quite easy to memorize.
On the Tab Notes, notice that the 12 measures or broken down into (6) two measure sets call “Part One”, “Part Two” and “Part Three” – each lasting 2 measures. Also notice that each of these parts is repeated one additional time in the song. What this means is if you learn Part 1, 2, and 3 you will know the whole song because it repeats! So that is only 6 measure or bars of new notes.
Articles You Should Read:
How to Read Beginning TAB
Notes on the Bass Strings Review your notes, fingering etc.
Music Terms For this second lesson, try to learn all of the terms you see on the notation staff.
Proper Left Hand Position Note how your hand is positioned on the neck. Keep your fingers right behind the fret. Brush up on this and make sure you are doing it correctly.
Note and Rest Timing Brush up on Whole, Half and Quarter Notes. They are all used in this song.
Music Theory You Should Know:
Music Staff
Measure
TAB
Quarter Notes
Half Notes
Whole Notes
Treble Clef
TAB Staff
Goals:
With this our Second Lesson, our goals are much less difficult. You should have a good feeling about a lot of the items we learned last time. If not go back over thing you are not sure of before you start this lesson. And guess what, you could even stretch last week’s lesson into this week if you don’t feel like you have it “down” good enough. That happens all the time, after all, this is all new!
Goal #1:
Be able to play the song from the TAB staff accurately. This is the basic goal and must be met because you cannot play the song without meeting this goal. Remember when playing your TAB you first say your String, then your Fret. You only need to do this until you know the song.
Goal #2:
Once you are comfortable with the song after playing it for a few days, focus on the timing on each note. Make sure you give each note the proper time value. Remember quarter notes = 1 beat, half notes = 2 beats and whole notes = 4 beats. Tab your foot if you can too. Play through the Guitar Pro file if you downloaded it. Set the speed as slow as you need to – to keep up with the software. Use the Guitar Pro teaching tool to loop through the song and gradually increase the speed as you loop.
Goal #3:
This one is hard at first. Try to play the song smoothly, without pauses. Start out very very slowly and try to play smoothly with the correct note timings as mentioned in #2 above.
Goal #4:
Only play the song faster if you are playing in smoothly at a slower pace. No need for speed on this second song either. Playing correctly and smoothly are the two things we need to master – not speed – that comes naturally.
What You Should Practice This Week:
Since this is our second song, let’s see if you can memorize part of it, or even all of it. Read the article on Tricks for Memorizing Songs to give you some pointers. It is only 6 total measures you need to memorize and just get the order of the repeats correct and you are ready for prime-time. 
See our How To Practice article:
If you are having trouble with your practice techniques, or can’t seem to get “in the groove”, review the article on How to Practice and this will help you develop a consistent practice method.
Help Us Out:
Lastly and most importantly, give us feedback, either good or bad. We want to improve this site and we want kids to learn how to play the guitar. If you have suggestions for us, leave a comment. If you appreciate these lessons, leave a comment on that too.
Songs in Downloadable Format:
If you have difficulty reading this score information, we have this score information available free of charge for you with an instant electronic download. Just click on the song title below and you will be taken to our secure server site. You will get a PDF file of the above score complete with the Tab Notes. Be sure to download Adobe Acrobat Reader v6.0 or above. This version will allow you to turn the Tab Layer on or off.
Also you will get the Guitar Pro file. You can download Guitar Pro and get a free trial so you can play along with this song in real time on your computer. If you upgrade to the full version of the song you will have a lot more features available to you.
Guitar Pro File
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PDF File
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Go to Twinkle Twinkle Little Star Score
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