Click here to jump straight to the TAB.
Many children’s songs of today were once just popular songs that were originally performed for an adult audience. It never fails to amuse me to think of 18th and 19th century folk at a party or a bar singing along to songs we hear on Cocomelon today.
And while the hand motions for “The Itsy Bitsy Spider” likely came along later after the song was adapted for children, I think it’s even funnier to imagine a group of adults having a grand old time pantomiming crawling spiders and falling rain.
The lyrics were originally a bit different. The spider wasn’t “itsy bitsy.” It was a “blooming, bloody spider,” which at the time was considered quite the profanity, at least in polite society. So this definitely was not a song for kids.
And that saucy language continued throughout the song. Here’s how it appeared in print in 1910:
Oh, the blooming, bloody spider went up the spider web,
The blooming, bloody rain came down and washed the spider out,
The blooming, bloody sun came out and dried up all the rain,
And the blooming, bloody spider came up the web again.
Goodness! Now I’m blushing.
“The Itsy Bitsy Spider” Playing Tips
“The Itsy Bity Spider” is pretty simple for the left hand, with a lot of open strings and nothing above the third fret to worry about. Keep your hand in first position with your index finger playing the first fret, your middle finger playing the second, and your ring finger hitting that one third fret note.
The song has a bounce to it, and while you’ll often see it written as straight quarter notes with the bounciness just implied (we all know the true rhythm of the song), I think it’s simpler to write out the desired rhythm using 6/8 time.
Don’t be intimidated by the different note types. You know this song, so just play it the way it sounds in your head. We’re using known songs to learn how to read music, not the other way around.
Click the link or the ‘Download’ button below to see the sheet music if your browser doesn’t display the embedded PDF.
Don’t have a low G uke? Not a problem. I’ve included a standard (high G) TAB for this song as well. Find the link at the bottom on the post. Happy picking!
“The Itsy Bitsy Spider” Low G Sheet Music Download
“The Itsy Bitsy Spider” High G Sheet Music Download
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