Piano songs · Beginner
Auld Lang Syne on piano
Auld Lang Syne is the song for midnight on New Year's Eve, and it's lovely on piano: a gentle tune with a lilting long-short rhythm. Here's the verse in F major.
this song
Auld Lang Syne sheet music
The same notes as the player above, as a piano score: F major, 4/4 time. Press Play and the notes light up as they sound. Free to print or save as a PDF.
How to read the rhythms · how to read the notes
About the piece
Robert Burns sent the words to the Scots Musical Museum in 1788, saying he'd taken them down from an old man's singing. The title means "old long since": days gone by. It's sung around the world as the clock strikes twelve.
The notes
The letters above are the tune, played by your right hand: C F F F A; G F G A F; F A C D D; C A A F G; F G A F D D; C F. Longer boxes are longer notes. Press Play and follow along, slow it down with the speed slider, or turn on Wait for me and play each note yourself.
How to learn it
- F major: one flat, B♭. Your right hand starts on the C below F and leaps up.
- The lilt: long-short, long-short ("Should auld ac-quaint-ance"). Keep the short notes light.
- The high point: "and never brought to mind" climbs to a high D. Let it ring.
- Left hand: F, C and B♭, one per bar.
Learning Auld Lang Syne on a real piano? Ivory listens to you play and tells you what's off: a note that's missing, a hand that lands late, a rhythm that runs away. Then it shows you how it should go.
Questions people ask
What are the notes for Auld Lang Syne on piano?
In F major: C, F F F A, G F G A, F F A C, D, then D, C A A F, G F G A, F D D C, F.
What does Auld Lang Syne mean?
"Old long since": days long past. The song asks whether old friendships should be forgotten.
More songs to play
A simple arrangement of a public-domain melody. Piano sound: Salamander Grand Piano by Alexander Holm, CC BY 3.0.