'The Alphabet Song' Guitar Chords

Learn This Popular Children's Song on Guitar

Man playing guitar with child

Dougal Waters / Getty Images

By
Dan Cross
    Dan Cross is a professional guitarist and former private instructor who has experience teaching and playing various styles of music.
    our editorial process
    Dan Cross
    Updated May 24, 2019

    This famous children's song is one traditionally used to teach kids their ABCs. Play the song below using a simple strumming pattern—try a basic four-strums-per-bar approach, using all downstrums. If you're having a problem with the G7 chord, a G major chord will substitute just fine.

    Note: if the music below appears poorly formatted, download this PDF of "The Alphabet Song", which is both properly formatted for printing and ad-free.

    'The Alphabet Song' Chords

    Chords Used: C (x32010) | F (xx3211) | G7 (320001) | G (320003)

    C            F     C
    A - B - C - D- E - F - G
    F     C     G7   C
    H - I - J - K - LMNO - P
    C     F C     G
    Q - R - S - T - U - V
    C F C   G
    W - X - Y and Z
    C   F      C
    Now I know my ABC's
    F       C       G7      C
    next time won't you sing with me.

    A History of 'The Alphabet Song'

    According to Wikipedia, the song was copyrighted in 1835 by the American music publisher Charles Bradlee under the title "The A.B.C". The melody of the song is based on a theme written by Mozart for his piano variations, "Ah, vous dirai-je, maman."

    You may recognize the tune—it's used in a number of other classic kid's songs, including: