Mary Had a Little Lamb kalimba tabs
For a 17-key kalimba tuned to C major. 26 notes on 4 tines, from C4 up to G4.
Play along on the online kalimba Play it on a kalimba in G
newellabs.com/play/kalimba/tabs/mary/
Number tab
The number tab read aloud, group by group. “High” stands for one dot above the number and “very high” for two.
- 3, 2, 1, 2.
- 3, 3, 3.
- 2, 2, 2.
- 3, 5, 5.
- 3, 2, 1, 2.
- 3, 3, 3, 3.
- 2, 2, 3, 2.
- 1.
Letter notes
Tines you need
The long tine in the middle is 1 (C4). Notes climb outward, alternating left and right, so neighbours on the same side are two steps apart.
How to read this tab
Numbers are steps of the C scale, 1 (C) to 7 (B), and each dot above a number means one octave higher; the tab shows which tine to play, not how long to hold it. Each numbered group is one bar of music, or more than one where a note lasts across a bar line.
About the song
The words are from Sarah Josepha Hale’s 1830 poem. It is sung to the tune of “Merrily We Roll Along”, from the 19th-century song “Goodnight, Ladies”. The melody is in the public domain.
Also in The Complete Kalimba Songbook, our book with every note’s length marked.