LadyDpiano: How To Play By Ear- Mary's Lamb- Jazz Style

Mary Had A Little Lamb is a very easy song to play because you only need to know a few notes. If you read music, here are the right hand melody notes:

http://library.thinkquest.org/15060/data/lessons/less6/index2b.html
As I move deeper into discovering the authorship of this
English Folklore, I discovered Lowell Mason set the nursery rhyme to a melody in the 1830s, adding repetition in the verses.
http://www.answers.com/topic/mary-had-a-little-lamb
In order to remember any tune, simple or complex, over a long period of time, you can do two things. Listen to it often, so that it becomes as familiar as Mary Had A Little Lamb. If you find a written version of a tune you would like to learn, make a tape of yourself playing it from the music. If you listen to it often enough, you'll know what it's supposed to sound like, and will be able to tell if you're hitting the right notes when you try to play it. Play the tune often enough, and your fingers will start falling into place automatically.
Mary had a little lamb
3 2 1 2 3 3 3
little lamb, little lamb
2 2 2 3 5 5
Mary had a little lamb
3 2 1 2 3 3 3
its fleece was white as snow
3 2 2 3 2 1
Awhile back, I wrote an article on Harmonizing The Melody. This particular song is a good example to practice grabbing those extra notes in your right hand to this very familiar melody line.
http://EzineArticles.com/?id=1116717
There are many different ways to alter and change the sounds of Mary Had A Little Lamb. One excellent example of incorporating the Lydian Scale
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lydian_mode and adding G Diminished Arpeggio Chords
http://www.playpiano.com/101-tips/6-diminished.htm
rworthy says: "If You Know Your Scales and Arpeggios, You Can Turn a Child's Nursery Rhyme into a Sonata." Listen to his beautiful style and enjoy!

How to Practice Scales and Arpeggios to Play Piano With Precision and Feel!

http://www.sheep.com/sounds/LambSound_1.wav