How to Play Mary Had a Little Lamb: Bass Guitar Basics

"Mary Had a Little Lamb" is a great introduction to learning note location on the bass guitar fretboard. There are many other ways to learn this, but for a player who is just getting used to the bass, the song can be a good opener.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

1. Set your key. For this example, we'll use the key of A, so start with the A note. This is located at the fifth fret of your bottom bass guitar string.
2. Play the A, then move down two frets to G and down two more frets to F. Listen to the descending first notes of the song.
3. Go back up from the F. Play a G and then three A notes.
4. Pluck three G notes in succession. You can easily recognize this part of the song.
5. Play one A and two C notes (eighth fret). You just finished the first part of the song ("Mary had a little lamb, little lamb, little lamb").
6. Start over and play the beginning notes again ("Mary had a little lamb").
7. Pick out another A and two G notes ("whose fleece was").
8. Follow with another sequence A, G and F ("white as snow"). Repeat this as necessary until you are ready to learn a little more advanced material.

Tips & Warnings

• Hum along with your guitar play. For beginners, humming the song can be a good way to start synchronizing the notes you're playing with the music you hear when imagining the song. Lots of beginners have trouble because the notes they are playing don't sound like a song; they sound like gibberish. If you hum along to each bar, you're more likely to hear how what you're playing on the guitar is the same as your own imagined sound for the song.