Old MacDonald — Guitar Tab

• Notes25, 5 pitches
• RangeG3–E4
• Key hereG major
• Tempo116 bpm · about 15 s
• LevelEasy

Can a guitar play Old MacDonald?

Yes — every one on this page plays it. The check is made note by note against what each one can actually sound. Where the tune does not fit as the library writes it, another key or octave is tried, and the table says which; where nothing fits, it names the notes that are missing.

• Acoustic✓ Plays as writtenIn G major, G3–E4 · loaded above
• Classical✓ Plays as writtenIn G major, G3–E4 · load it

Old MacDonald: guitar tab

The large line is the fret — 0 is the open string; the small line under it is the string it is on. A dash holds the note another beat, an underline is half a beat, and a dot beside a note makes it half as long again. Each line is one phrase.

Old MacDonald guitar tab as text

The same notes as tablature: one line per string, the thin high E on top, and each number the fret to press on that line — 0 is the open string. Read it left to right, one note at a time.

e|---------0-0-------------------------0-0----|
B|-------3-----3--0-0--------3-------3-----3--|
G|-0-0-0--------------2-2-0----0-0-0----------|
D|--------------------------------------------|
A|--------------------------------------------|
E|--------------------------------------------|

e|------------|
B|-0-0--------|
G|-----2-2-0--|
D|------------|
A|------------|
E|------------|

Are there chords for it?

Not on this page. The chords here are chosen by rule — the three chords of the key — and they are only offered where that rule can be checked against a published harmonisation and agrees with it on most bars. This melody has no barred score in its sources to hang chords on. The tab above is the whole tune.

The 5 notes it uses

Lowest to highest, with how many times each is played. Learn these 5 and you can play the whole tune.

• 0G×8
• 2G×4
• 0B×4
• 3B×5
• 0High E×4

What to expect on a guitar

• It runs from G3 to E4, a major sixth, using 5 different notes. That leaves 15 semitones unused below and 12 above.
• 75% of its moves are a step or a repeated note. The widest is a fifth, G3 to D4, at note 4.
• The whole tune sits in first position: nothing above the 3rd fret, one finger per fret.
• It is played on 3 strings (G, B and High E), and 16 notes are an open string.
• The picking hand changes string 10 times.

About the tune

A cumulative farm song with 18th-century English ancestors; the version sung today, with this tune and this farmer’s name, was printed in 1917 in a collection of songs from the First World War.

Traditional, published 1917 in this form. Public domain. More about Old MacDonald →

Old MacDonald on other instruments

The same melody, in each instrument’s own notation.

• Old MacDonald — kalimbatabs
• Old MacDonald — pianoletter notes
• Old MacDonald — ukuleletab
• Old MacDonald — mbiratabs
• Old MacDonald — guzhengtabs
• Old MacDonald — handpantabs
• Old MacDonald — oudnotes
• Old MacDonald — violinnotes
• Old MacDonald — cellonotes
• Old MacDonald — erhunotes
• Old MacDonald — dulcimertab
• Old MacDonald — xylophoneletter notes
• Old MacDonald — marimbaletter notes
• Old MacDonald — glockenspielletter notes
• Old MacDonald — steel drumletter notes
• Old MacDonald — ocarinanotes
• Old MacDonald — harmonicatabs
• Old MacDonald — trumpetnotes
• Old MacDonald — clarinetnotes
• Old MacDonald — saxophonenotes
• Old MacDonald — flutenotes
• Old MacDonald — recordernotes
• Old MacDonald — tubanotes
• Old MacDonald — euphoniumnotes
• Old MacDonald — trombonenotes
• Old MacDonald — accordionletter notes
• Old MacDonald — harpletter notes
• Old MacDonald — lyretabs

More songs for the guitar

• Hot Cross BunsNursery rhymes · major third
• Lightly RowNursery rhymes · fifth
• Twinkle Twinkle Little StarNursery rhymes · major sixth
• Mary Had a Little LambNursery rhymes · fifth
• Row, Row, Row Your BoatNursery rhymes · octave
• London BridgeNursery rhymes · major sixth
• Frère JacquesNursery rhymes · major sixth
• Going Home (New World Largo)Classical melodies · fifth

All 36 guitar songs · Christmas songs for guitar · The online guitar on its own