Piano songs · Beginner
Chopsticks on piano
Chopsticks is the piece everyone can play a bit of: two notes side by side, F and G, chopped out six times, then spreading wider and wider. Here's the famous first part exactly as it was printed in the 1870s, with its oom-pah-pah waltz in the left hand.
this song
Chopsticks sheet music
The same notes as the player above, as a piano score: C major, 3/4 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
It was written by Euphemia Allan, aged sixteen, and published in 1877 by her brother Mozart Allan, a Glasgow music publisher, as The Celebrated Chop Waltz, under the pen name Arthur de Lulli. It's the only piece she ever published. The title comes from her instructions: play the tune with both hands held sideways, little fingers down, chopping at the keys. The waltz goes on to a louder middle section (in this edition, with glissandos) before coming back to the start; this page plays the first part, to the Fine.
The notes
The letters above are the tune, played by your right hand: F·G F·G F·G F·G F·G F·G; E·G E·G E·G E·G E·G E·G; D·B D·B D·B D·B D·B D·B; C·C C·C C·C C·C D·B E·A; F·G F·G F·G F·G F·G F·G; E·G E·G E·G E·G E·G E·G; D·B D·B D·B D·B D·B D·B; C·C G E C. 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
- Two notes at once: the tune is almost all two notes together. Start on F and G, the top line of the treble staff and the space above it, with fingers 1 and 2, or chop them with the sides of your hands as the composer meant.
- Spreading out: F–G, then E–G, then D–B, then C–C. The bottom note walks down and the top note climbs, until your hands are an octave apart.
- Closing in: C–C, D–B, E–A, and back to F–G to start again. The second time, it ends C–C, G, E, C.
- The left hand: a waltz, "oom-pah-pah": a low G (or C) on beat one, then a chord twice. There are only two chords, G7 and C.
Learning Chopsticks 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 Chopsticks on piano?
Two notes at a time, six of each: F and G, then E and G, then D and B, then C and C three times, C–C, D–B, E–A. Then the same again, ending C–C, G, E, C.
Who wrote Chopsticks?
Euphemia Allan, a sixteen-year-old British girl, in 1877, under the pen name Arthur de Lulli. Its real title is The Celebrated Chop Waltz. It's in the public domain.
Is Chopsticks easy to play?
The famous first part is: two notes at a time in one hand, and only two chords in the other. The middle section is harder, with a few glissandos (sliding up the white keys) in some editions.
Why is it called Chopsticks?
From the original title, The Celebrated Chop Waltz: the composer asked for the tune to be chopped out with the sides of both hands. American editions were already calling it Chop Sticks by 1879.
More songs to play
Notes from The Celebrated Chop Waltz as printed by R. A. Saalfield, New York, 1879 (Levy Sheet Music Collection, Johns Hopkins University): the first part, to the Fine. Piano sound: Salamander Grand Piano by Alexander Holm, CC BY 3.0.