Old MacDonald — Steel Drum Letter Notes

• Notes25, 5 pitches
• RangeF4–D5
• Key hereF major
• Tempo116 bpm · about 15 s
• LevelEasy

Can a steel drum play Old MacDonald?

✓ Plays as written Every note of it is on the steel drum, in F major from F4 to D5. The check is made note by note against what the instrument can actually sound.

Old MacDonald: steel drum letter notes

The large line is the note stamped on the pan; the small line under it is its number in the scale. 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.

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.

• F1×8
• G2×4
• A3×4
• C5×5
• D6×4

What to expect on a steel drum

• It runs from F4 to D5, a major sixth, using 5 different notes. That leaves 5 semitones unused below and 14 above.
• 75% of its moves are a step or a repeated note. The widest is a fifth, F4 to C5, at note 4.
• Its notes sit in 2 of the pan’s three rings, so the stick moves in and out as well as around.

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 — 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 — 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 steel drum

• 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 steel drum songs · Christmas songs for steel drum · The online steel drum on its own