Irish Traditional Music Tune Index
Tune ID# 1308 (Miss McDonald)

RhythmBars8-bar phrase structureMode
Reel32ABCDG Major
Transcription of first 2 bars of Miss McDonald
 about these two bars

These two bars are the start of my transcription of how this tune was played – the first time through – on the recording JKn 2 (details in the Discography below).

Where do you get the tune titles?
Titles given to this tune in the sources listed below (plus notes of mine about this tune):
Miss McDonald / Miss MacDonald
What do the "track#tune" codes mean?

cd Discography

Here are all recordings of this tune considering only the indexed recordings. I have discovered by careful listening that these sources are in fact musically the same tune, regardless of the tune titles they use, key changes, retuning, etc. They are listed in order of when they were recorded.

Year
Recorded		 Track
#Tune		 [Album code] Artist. Title. Primary musicians (instruments). Album details
and contents
~19938#2[MB 2] Mary Bergin. Feadóga Stáin 2. Mary Bergin (whistle).View album details
~19939#1[JKn 2] James Keane. That's the Spirit. James Keane (accordion).View album details
~199915#2[Trc] Gearóid Ó hAllmhuráin and Patrick Ourceau. Tracin'. Gearóid Ó hAllmhuráin (concertina), Patrick Ourceau (fiddle).View album details
~200213#4[CaBrdg] Niall and Cillian Vallely. Callan Bridge. Niall Vallely (concertina), Cillian Vallely (pipes, whistle).View album details

Bibliography

Here are all transcriptions of this tune under any title whatsoever – considering only the indexed books – listed in chronological order. I have discovered by careful comparison that these are very similar to this tune as played on the recordings listed above.

As tune #1210 in [1850] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. O'Neill's Music of Ireland. [available]
As tune #486 in [1001] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. The Dance Music of Ireland. 1001 Gems. [available]
On page 98 of [Krsn] Miles Krassen. O'Neill's Music of Ireland. New and Revised. [available]
As tune #46 in [P] Brian and Eithne Vallely. Play 50 Reels.
On page 36 of [SK] Sean Keane. Fifty Fiddle Solos. [available]
As reel #371 in [Cobb] Dan Cobb. Cobb's Music of Ireland. [available]

If you are considering using the above transcriptions to help you learn this tune, I invite you to check these practical Tips for Learning Irish Traditional Music. See also: So why do you bother indexing books and abc?

Year of the oldest source for this tune, considering the recordings and transcriptions listed above (note that I concentrate on sources after 1900): 1903
Please cite your source when you use information from this document.
© 2000–2008 Alan Ng, agng@facstaff.wisc.edu. Questions? Comments? Please use the easy Feedback Form. Thank you!
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