How to Play “Mary Had a Little Lamb” on Guitar?

The song “Mary Had a Little Lamb” is by the American blues rock guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan. However, in its origins, “Mary Had a Little Lamb” is a nineteenth-century American nursery rhyme in English. “Mary Had a Little Lamb” is included in the Texas Flood album of Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble which was released in 1983. In this article, we’ll learn how to play “Mary Had a Little Lamb” on guitar step by step.

Mary Had a Little Lamb – Intro and Chords with Mixing Licks

First, we must tune our guitar to E flat; it’s a half step down or a regular tune. We will combine the open E minor pentatonic scale and the chords of the E blues E7, A7, and B7. The song starts with the E minor pentatonic lick. Hit an open A string to the 2nd fret, open the D string, then back to the open A. The open A, then the 3rd fret on the low E, which is G. We’re going to skip the A string and go to the E note, which is the 2nd fret on the D string. Once you get your middle finger to the 2nd fret of the D, your index finger goes to the 1st of the G. You hit the 3rd of the B with your pinky finger.

So, that’s the E7 chord. Then, we’ll play the open E as the root of that chord within the rhythm. Now it’s the open A hammered up to the 2nd, then the second time the open A. Following that 3rd of the low E, and 2nd of the D again. Then, play the chord again with the same rhythm.

A7 Chord

It doesn’t do the whole rhythm on the following phrase as we got to go into the next lick, which uses a little touch of the E major pentatonic. It doesn’t go to the open E strike again because it will go right into the lick. This lick is the 2nd fret to the 4th fret on the A string and the 2nd fret of the D string. Then, we’re going to go up with our pinky or ring finger to the 5th fret of the D string and hit that twice. You can give it a little nudge-nudge.

Now with one pick index finger on the 2nd fret of the G and with one pick that 2nd fret and then a hammer on the 3rd, pull-off back with that planted still, and then I pull it off to the open G. Then we hit the open A string and plant the index finger down. So, we can play A7 chord. That’s the 2nd fret with the open A. Then, the 2nd part across, and get that high E 3rd fret with the chord. That’s your A7.

Goes Into the B7 Chord

In here, we’re going to hammer from the open A to the 2nd fret, then 0-1-2 into the B7. This little chunk of the B7: 2nd fret, 1st fret, and 2nd fret on the G string. So, from this part, we’re going to hit the 2nd fret of the E string; SRV uses his thumb, but it’s just easier to use his middle finger, so you hit the 2nd fret of the low E, then the A string and then we’re going to play a part in that A7.

We’ve got a lick that starts with the ring finger on the 3rd of the high E, the middle finger on the 2nd of the B. You play that together and then the open E, the 3rd fret of B, and then open B. So after the open B, the middle finger goes to the 2nd fret of the G. We’re going to start on the 2nd fret and slide it to the 4th. Then the index is going to hit the 3rd of the B naturally.

Another Way of Hendrix Chord’s Technique

After we do that, we’re with that 4th fret and going to hit it again and slide it hard back to the 2nd from the 4th to the 2nd. Pull it, then pull it off and then get the middle finger to the 2nd fret of the D. We go into that seven chord again, but we also want to cover the 3rd of the high E. We can think of it as an E major chord and then cover our pinky over the 3rd fret of the B, the high E. That’s a different way to play the Hendrix chord.

This part is fun because it is A7 and B7 with just rhythms. Moreover, you can throw your licks in there.

Mary Had a Little Lamb – Solo

Mary Had a Little Lamb by Stevie Ray Vaughan is a fantastic texas blue solo. It’s got loads of the Stevie Ray Vaughan trademark licks in it.

We’ve got a little rake, so the first thing to do is lay on the thinnest two strings. In that way, you can do up picks with mute. One lick at a time; we’re starting with a tone bend 15th fret of the B string, probably using your third finger. And then the third finger on the 14th fret of the G string, tone bend, release, and flick off. Then, 14 to 12 flick off on the D string. Now, we’ve got a classic Stevie Ray Vaughan guitar lick. 

This one uses pick and fingers. So, pick is playing the lead note, 14th fret on the D string, 12th fret on the G string, 14 to 15 slide, then 14 to 12. Finally, play 14th fret two times, and it’s all that. Obviously, on the G string, you’re going to put a little bar with your index finger, and you’re going to use a finger like your third finger to play the thinnest string at the same time.

Then we’ve got just a basic pentatonic, 14th fret on the D string, 14th to 12th flick off still on the D string, back to the 14th a pair of twelves on the B and G strings, and then 14 to 12 flick off on the D string.

Stevie Ray Vaughan’s Another Classic

Now, we’ve got another classic Stevie Ray Vaughan lick. So, we’ve got a first finger bend on the 12th fret of the D string. However, it doesn’t go all the way up; it’s like a blues curl. It’s one of these trademark things you want to make sure you cope. And that’s the 12th fret on the D string, 14th fret twice on the D string, still the fourth string, the 12th fret to the 14th fret, and bend on the G string.

Afterwards, the first finger 12th fret on the B string, and you play the 15th fret again on the B string, still with the third finger. You want to do a semi-tone bend before the first finger on the 12th fret of the thinnest string and then the 12th fret on the B string. It’s a really tasty little lick. There is just an excellent pentatonic 12 to 15 on the B string 12-15-12 on the thinnest string.

Mary Had a Little Lamb But Complicated Frets

Then, we got the little drag again the backward rake to ending on two notes twice, played the 14th fret on the G string. 14 to 12 flick off on the D string 14th fret on the A string, then we’re going up the minor pentatonic scale so 12th fret on the and the 14th fret on the D string, 12th fret 14th fret on the G string that G string with a tone bend.

The first finger in the 12th fret of this of the B string, the third finger in the 15th fret of still on the B string, then it’s going to step up one fret to the 16th and step up one to the 17th fret. Then we’ve just got the 16th fret on the G string, the 15th fret, and the 17th fret on the B string.

Tricky Second Rhythm

At the beginning of the following phrase, you need to play the 15th fret on the thinnest string, the 17th fret tone bend, and back to the 15th fret without a bend. So, the 15th fret first finger tone bend, release it, and then the 17th fret on the B string. That isn’t easy, but such a nice lick, though. It’s pretty common for Stevie Ray Vaughan to do, but he had strong hands and thicker strings.

Now we’ve got this lovely little triplet line starting with 15th to 17th, then tone bend 17th, 15th with a little curl, 17th to 15th on the B string, and then the third finger is going to move to the 16th fret of the G string. 16-15-14 and there’s a little pause there and then the last little it’s kind of a little tag on the end 12 on the G string still and then 14 on the D string back to the 12.

Another Challenging Lick

Then, we’ve got another lick, and this one’s a be a little bit challenging. 14th to 12th flick off, 12th fret on the A string, then up the pentatonic, 12 to 14 on the D string, and bend on the 14th fret on the G string. Now we’ve got a little triplet, classic Stevie Ray Vaughan style. This one starts the 12th fret on the B string, the 12th fret on the E string, the 15th fret on the B string, and back to 12.

The third finger goes down on the 14th fret of the E string, and then we do a hammer-on flick-off from the 12th fret with the first finger, the second finger going down in the 13th fret, then the third finger in the 15th fret on the B string, then we’re back to the 12th fret on E string, 12th fret B string, and finally 12th fret E string.

Second Bar and Interesting Details

The following phrase is also quite tricky to get. It’s still triplets, but there’s something awkward about having all of these 12s and then going straight into a bend. In this second bar, we’re starting with a 15th fret bend on the E string, but it’s just like a little curl, not a full bend. Then, 12th fret on the E string, 12th fret on the B string, 14th fret on the G string with tone bend, and back to 12th fret on the B string, then 12th fret on E string. In this part, it’s very likely Stevie’s using his third finger on the B string and doing the bend with his second finger, finishing the phrase on the 14th fret of the D string.

We’re going to continue the triplets thing. So, on the 12th fret, we’re playing little double stops of the B and G strings using a little bar with the first finger. Then, the 14th fret bottom with the third finger and a little bend, bend release and flick off the third finger. So, you get that 12th fret of the third string. Then you’re going to play the root note, the fourteenth fret of the D string. From there you play back to the two 12s, back to the root note again. You should flatten it down to play the two 14s, the two 12s. Afterwards, 14 to 12, flick off on the D string, and then 14th fret on the A string.

Third Bar and Enjoy The Music

The next bar is 12-14-14 on the D string, the two 12s back to the root note, the two 14s, the two 12s back to the root note, and then the 12s. Now we’ve got some lovely bends coming up at the 15th fret. We start the 12th fret of the B string, the 15th fret. Afterwards, a tone bend, pick-release-pick-release, and another bend. After that little bit, we’ve got a lovely release.

It is releasing the 15th fret, then playing the 12th fret, that’s both on the B string. 14th fret bend release, and playing the 12th fret. That’s all on the G string. From there down to the root note 14th fret on the D string, 12th fret 14th fret on the G string with a tone bend. Then, you go straight to the 12th fret. That’s such a lovely phrase as you can see. Then, we hit the low E string, the pair of 12s of the B string and the G strings. Finally again 14th fret with the third finger little bar, back to 12th fret, 14-12-14 on the D string. Here we’re there.

How to Play “Mary Had a Little Lamb” on Guitar? | Final Thoughts

“Mary Had a Little Lamb” is an American-origin nursery rhyme song. The song, also known as a child song, is performed by different singers in various styles. Today, we’ve covered the Stevie Ray Vaughan blues rock version. It is totally normal to admit that playing that song can be tricky as it has mixing licks. But we’ve guided you step by step.
With that guideline, you can start playing that song with your guitar and Deplike amps wherever you are. As the Deplike app allows you to play everywhere just with your smartphone, you can enjoy playing “Mary Had a Little Lamb.” Moreover, you can learn faster with your customized guitar studio with Deplike. All amps, pedals, and cabinets that you wish to use are available. You can download Deplike now and with your personalized 3D tutor, you can benefit from every feature of Deplike and enjoy playing “Mary Had a Little Lamb.”