Home › Tools › Piano Sheet Music for Kids › Arirang
Piano sheet music for kids · Folk song · Level 3: Notes below middle C
Arirang
Free beginner piano sheet music: C major, 3/4, 16 bars. Press Play to hear it on a real piano, slow it down, or hear one hand at a time; click any note to start from there; print it for the music stand.
About this arrangement
Korea’s best-loved folk song, in a slow 3/4, with the Korean words in Roman letters. It is written in C major, with no sharps or flats, and the tune uses only five notes, G, A, C, D and E, plus the G above, which gives it its Korean sound. The thumb starts on the G below middle C, so those five notes fall under the five fingers; the hand moves up for the high G in bars 9 and 10. Most bars are a dotted crotchet (dotted quarter note) and quavers (eighth notes), and many syllables are sung over two quavers joined by a slur. The left hand plays a waltz bass on C, G, A minor, F and E minor.
Practice tip: Sing the refrain “a-ri-rang, a-ri-rang, a-ra-ri-yo” slowly before you play it. Let each slurred pair of quavers flow, and play the whole song gently.
The words
arirang arirang arariyo arirang gogaero neomeoganda nareul beorigo gasineun nimeun simnido mot gaseo balbyeongnanda
A short history
Arirang is a Korean folk song with thousands of variants in some sixty regional versions, all sharing a refrain like “arirang, arirang, arariyo”. It is thought to have begun in Jeongseon, in the mountains of Gangwon Province, and the first known mention of it is in a manuscript of 1756.
The version here, Bonjo (standard) Arirang from Seoul, became famous as the theme song of Na Woon-gyu’s 1926 silent film Arirang. Its words are sung by someone left behind as a loved one crosses Arirang Pass: “you who leave me will not walk ten li before your feet hurt”, a li being about 400 metres.
Arirang is on UNESCO’s list of the intangible cultural heritage of humanity, put forward by South Korea in 2012 and by North Korea in 2014, and it is sung on both sides of the border.
Quick facts
- Tune
- Traditional (Korean; Seoul version, words 1926)
- Key
- C major
- Time signature
- 3/4
- Length
- 16 bars
- Tempo
- Gently, crotchet = 96
- Difficulty
- Level 3: Notes below middle C (piece 106 of 201)
- Type
- Folk song
- Hands
- Both: melody in the right hand, chords in the left
- Copyright
- Public domain tune; arrangement by Digital Greenhouse, free for personal and classroom use
Questions and answers
What key is Arirang in?
How long is it?
Is Arirang out of copyright?
What is the hardest part?
Can I print it?
← More folk songs · All 201 pieces: piano sheet music for kids
🔒 Runs entirely in your browser: nothing is uploaded and no account is needed. Once loaded, the page and the piano keep working offline.