Sarah Josepha Hale (1788–1879) · traditional tune · C major · 4/4 · 100 BPM · 8 bars · Children’s songs
Mary Had a Little Lamb sits in Children’s songs, written in C major. It uses 2 chords across 8 bars, at about 100 BPM.
CG7
C
G7
| 1 | C | · | G7 | C |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | · | G7 | C | · |
Eight bars. C for Mary, G7 for the lamb at school, C for the middle, G7 again, and C to close. The two G7s last one bar each — that is the whole joke of the tune, so do not skip them.
| Keys | Chord chart |
|---|---|
| C major · Written in this key | C · G7 · C · G7 · C |
| Db major | Db · Ab7 · Db · Ab7 · Db |
| D major | D · A7 · D · A7 · D |
| Eb major | Eb · Bb7 · Eb · Bb7 · Eb |
| E major | E · B7 · E · B7 · E |
| F major | F · C7 · F · C7 · F |
| F# major | F# · C#7 · F# · C#7 · F# |
| G major | G · D7 · G · D7 · G |
| Ab major | Ab · Eb7 · Ab · Eb7 · Ab |
| A major | A · E7 · A · E7 · A |
| Bb major | Bb · F7 · Bb · F7 · Bb |
| B major | B · F#7 · B · F#7 · B |
No named pattern sits as a run of chords inside this song.
The words were published by Sarah Josepha Hale in 1830; the tune is a traditional melody. Hale died in 1879, so on a life-plus-70 basis the words ended in 1949, and the tune has no identifiable composer. The 1830 publication and Hale’s dates (1788–1879) were checked by search.