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SongsOld MacDonald Had a Farm
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Traditional, published 1917 in this form. Public domain.

4 strings · G3–E5 open · E6 at the octave · Perfect fifths all the way up. What every violin in the world is tuned to unless somebody has decided otherwise.

Tap a string, or slide along a string and the pitch follows your finger, under a bow that never stops. On a keyboard the letters on the strings are the ones to press — they run down the strings, 1 at the top — hold a key and the note holds.

ViolinFree · printable · plays in your browser

Old MacDonald — Violin Notes

Old MacDonald Had a Farm, written out for the violin as every note with its string and how far up it and set up above on the Standard. Press Play to hear it, Practice to learn it one note at a time — the violin waits for you — or Play along to keep time with it.

  • Notes25, 5 pitches
  • RangeC4–A4
  • Key hereC major
  • Tempo116 bpm · about 15 s
  • LevelEasy

Can a violin 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.

  • Standard✓ Plays as writtenIn C major, C4–A4 · loaded above
  • AEAE✓ Plays as writtenIn C major, C4–A4 · load it
  • ADAE✓ Plays as writtenIn C major, C4–A4 · load it
  • GDGD✓ Plays as writtenIn C major, C4–A4 · load it

Old MacDonald: violin notes

The large line is the note; the small line under it is the string, and how many semitones above its open note to stop it. 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.

▶ Play it above

Old MacDonald Had a Farm — violin notes (Standard) · tonalics.com

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.

  • CG·5×8
  • DD·0×4
  • ED·2×4
  • GD·5×5
  • AA·0×4

What to expect on a violin

  • It runs from C4 to A4, a major sixth, using 5 different notes. That leaves 5 semitones unused below and 19 above.
  • 75% of its moves are a step or a repeated note. The widest is a fifth, C4 to G4, at note 4.
  • It is played on 3 strings (G, D and A), crossing between strings 10 times.
  • 8 notes are an open string, and the highest stop is 5 semitones above the open string — it never leaves the bottom of the neck.

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.

More songs for the violin

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

Playing it on a real violin?

If it sounds wrong, check the instrument before the notes. The violin tuner listens through your microphone and names what each note is actually sounding.

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