The Alphabet Song

The Alphabet Song, and songs like it, have been used around the world to teach kids the alphabet. It is also known as The A. B. C. or The ABC's. The original title was 'The A. B. C.', a German air with variations for the flute with an easy accompaniment for the piano forte. It was copyrighted by a Boston music publisher named Charles Bradlee.

The musical arrangement has been attributed to an 18th century composer named Louis Le Mare. However, the theme (or tune) that is used is the same used by Mozart for his piano variation 'A vous dirai je Maman'. It is also the same tune that the songs Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and Baa Baa Blacksheep are based off of.

The US is one of the only English speaking countries to pronounce z as 'zee', most pronounced it as 'zed'. There are many variations that have been developed to accommodate the zed pronunciation. One variation shortens the second line and lengthens the last to form a near-rhyme between N and zed.

There are also variations where the alphabet is sung backwards. One variation has the last line that goes 'Now I know my ZYX's, let's all go and walk to Texas'.

The Alphabet Song can also be sung to different tunes, like this one.