Old MacDonald Had a Farm

• Rangemajor sixth
• Notes25, 5 different
• ScalePentatonic
• Length hereabout 15 s

About Old MacDonald

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.

Musically it is pentatonic — it has no fourth and no seventh — which means it also fits instruments tuned to a five-note scale.

Play Old MacDonald on your instrument

27 of the 27 playable instruments here have every note it needs. 27 play it where the library writes it; the rest move it to another key or octave, and each page says which. Every page has the instrument itself, with the song loaded, above the notes.

• Kalimba tabsas written · C4–A4 · major sixth
• Piano letter notesas written · C4–A4 · major sixth
• Mbira tabsas written · C4–A4 · major sixth
• Guzheng tabsas written · D4–B4 · major sixth
• Handpan tabsas written · C4–A4 · major sixth
• Oud notesas written · C3–A3 · major sixth
• Violin notesas written · C4–A4 · major sixth
• Cello notesas written · C3–A3 · major sixth
• Erhu notesas written · D4–B4 · major sixth
• Dulcimer tabas written · D4–B4 · major sixth
• Xylophone letter notesas written · C4–A4 · major sixth
• Marimba letter notesas written · C4–A4 · major sixth
• Glockenspiel letter notesas written · C4–A4 · major sixth
• Steel Drum letter notesas written · F4–D5 · major sixth
• Ocarina notesas written · C4–A4 · major sixth
• Harmonica tabsas written · C5–A5 · major sixth
• Trumpet notesas written · C4–A4 · major sixth
• Clarinet notesas written · C4–A4 · major sixth
• Saxophone notesas written · C4–A4 · major sixth
• Flute notesas written · G4–E5 · major sixth
• Recorder notesas written · C4–A4 · major sixth
• Tuba notesas written · B♭1–G2 · major sixth
• Euphonium notesas written · B♭2–G3 · major sixth
• Trombone notesas written · B♭2–G3 · major sixth
• Accordion letter notesas written · C4–A4 · major sixth
• Harp letter notesas written · C4–A4 · major sixth
• Lyre tabsas written · C4–A4 · major sixth

Old MacDonald letter notes

Written in C major, from C4 to A4, with each note’s number in the scale under it — the form that transfers to any instrument. A dash holds a note another beat, an underline is half a beat, and each line is one phrase.

Where these notes come from

Traditional, published 1917 in this form. Public domain.

No lyrics are printed on this page or any other here: these pages are about a melody and how to play it.

More nursery rhymes & first tunes

• Hot Cross Buns18th century
• Lightly Row19th century
• Twinkle Twinkle Little Star1761
• Mary Had a Little LambLowell Mason, 1831
• Row, Row, Row Your Boat1852
• London Bridge1744 (rhyme)
• Frère Jacques18th century