Piano chords · Lullaby boat
Dear Old Donegal: easy piano accompaniment in letter notes
Written by Steve Graham
- Eb major
- 6/8
- 158 BPM
- 1942
- Medium
The accompaniment with every note named, bar by bar: the bar sheet shows each note as a bar on the staff with its letter inside, so you can accompany Dear Old Donegal without reading music. The left hand plays swelling 6/8 (open arpeggio 1-5-8-10-8-5 (6/8)) and the right hand hammock chords.
Dear Old Donegal accompaniment in letter notes
The Eb – Ab – Cdim – Eb loop with swelling 6/8 in the left hand and hammock chords in the right. Notes struck together are joined with a plus; C4 is middle C.
How to read the bar sheet
The player above shows the treble staff (right hand) over the bass staff (left hand). Every note is a bar as long as it sounds, at its place on the staff, with its name inside, and the music scrolls past a line that marks now. The chord names run along the top.
Start with the left hand alone at a slow speed, then the right, then both. When the letters feel easy, try the sheet music.
Questions about Dear Old Donegal
What are the letter notes for the Dear Old Donegal piano accompaniment?
Bar by bar, both hands: the bar sheet on this page names every note of the accompaniment (C4 is middle C) and plays along. The loop is Eb – Ab – Cdim – Eb, so the letters repeat with the chords.
What chords are in Dear Old Donegal?
The loop is Eb – Ab – Cdim – Eb (I – IV – vio – I) in Eb major, and the song ends on Eb – Bb7 – Eb.
What key is Dear Old Donegal in?
Eb major, at about 158 beats a minute in 6/8.
What does the left hand play in Dear Old Donegal?
Swelling 6/8: open arpeggio 1-5-8-10-8-5 (6/8), a medium pattern. It follows the chords, so the same shape works for every bar.
Is Dear Old Donegal easy to play on piano?
It is a medium one: learn the 4 chords as blocks first, then add the left hand, then the right, slowly.
Made from one arrangement of this song: the left and right hands are the patterns these scores repeat most.