Guitar Tabs for Beginners
"Pizza Please" (Hot Cross Buns)

Guitar tabs for beginners "Pizza Please" is really just Hot Cross Buns in disguise for beginning guitar.

But your students won't catch on to that for some time!

This is one of those rare "one string guitar songs"

Please scroll down the page for the download links.

This song will be perfect for a guitar lesson in the first or second week, because it all happens on one string -- no string crossing!

Too boring? Nope!

You might think the tune of Hot Cross Buns wouldn't stir the heart, but kids like being able to master such an easy melody. They also love the fun of saying, "Pep-per-o-ni, cheese, AN-CHO-VY!"

The 4th finger

Oh no! This song uses the 4 finger. Yes, matching finger 4 to fret 4 is a little hard at first, but it is a good exercise to introduce very early, when kids are first learning their finger numbers.

It may seem easier with other fingers... or even just the same finger, sliding up and down! But if you don't get them started early using that "pinky" finger, the little finger will be curling down into the palm, or tucking under the guitar neck in no time at all.

Pizza Please can come before scales

Scale practice will help them get comfortable placing their fingers down all in a row. My basic scale with new beginners goes like this:

Right hand holds the pick and plucks "Down, Down, Down, Down"
Left hand fingers are curved over the guitar neck
Aloud, I say, "Open, open; 1,1, 2,2, 3,3, 4,4," repeating each note once, twice, or even three times
Start over on the same string, OR:
Start over, next string.

After a couple weeks of this scale, we will go up and back down the neck as well: 00, 11, 22, 33, 44, 33, 22, 11, 00.

Head off that bad habit before it gets started

A curled pinky is a difficult habit to break! This song's fingering encourages the left hand to stay open and relaxed, with the fingers up and ready for action.

This song is perfect for practicing "Down-Up"

The "Down-Up" pattern is not intuitive for most guitar students, but after kids are comfortable with the timing and fingering of the song, we get our picks out and try a slow:

"Down, down, down. (4 - 2 - 0)

"Down-up, down-up, down-up, down-up. (0-0-0-0, 2-2-2-2)

"Down, down, down." (4 - 2 - 0)

It's nice and easy, because it's all on one string.

The link for the guitar tabs:

Download guitar tabs for beginners Pizza Please guitar sheet music

Dianna:
Your website is a light in the darkness. THANK YOU for all you do in helping to spread the love of music. It matters!

Interested in songs from the Bible for your students or church? Check out my other website, SingTheBibleStory.com!

Songs Old & Songs New

All the first-year material I give my beginner students.

Piano keyboard sheets, scales, chords, note-reading exercises, and over 256 pages of music!

Queen Esther in the Bible

This beautiful song book for piano & voice "Esther, For Such a Time as This", available as a digital download, tells the riveting story of the time when Jews in ancient Persia faced a foe named Haman, and how a brave young queen risked her life to save her people.

A good choice for a singing story-teller, an operatic group, a short theater production, or a class of children!

This book is also available from Amazon as a paperback.

Just the Black Keys

This book is available as a digital download from this site. Visit this page to see some free examples from the book.

It is also available from Amazon as a paperback!

This is the perfect easy start for little pianists.

And when they start reading white-key notes on the staff, this is a fun easy resource to say each week, "Choose a new black-key song at home this week and figure it out to show me next lesson!" They will be spending more time at the piano.

The Adventures of Tonsta

A perfect read aloud storybook
for little boys or girls.

The Adventures of Tonsta highlight the travels of a very young boy with a good heart, who goes about helping folk in trouble.

With a red cap on his head and a sack of tools slung over his shoulder, Tonsta seems to meet people in distress wherever he goes.

Lots of trolls in this book - including one who gives him a Christmas gift!

Available at Amazon

About the Author

Dana Thynes

Hi, I'm Dana! (Say that like "Anna".) I'm the owner of Music-for-Music-Teachers.com, and a newer site, SingTheBibleStory.com.

Like some of you, I've been playing the piano since early childhood, and have added a few other instruments along the way, plus an interest in arranging and composing music.

You can find out more about me and the reason for this website at my About Me page.

Piano book Songs Old & Songs New, a collection of beginning piano music