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Lonnie Donegan - My Old Man’s a Dustman Chords

DATA-DRIVENWhich Chord Comes Next?Learn the most likely chord transitions on guitar and start playing songs with confidence.
ChordsG, D, Em, A7, D7, G7, C, F, E
Strumming↓-↓↑-↓-↓↑-↓↑↓↑

Before you play, tune your guitar and use the tools below to set up your view and flow.

NowGhere’saDlittleEmstorytoA7tellitisaD7must
GAboutanDunsungEmherothatA7movesawayyourD7dust
SomeA7peoplemakeaD7fortuneA7other’searnaD7mint
A7Myoldmandon’tearnmuch,inD7factA7he’sflippin’D7skint
D7Oh!myGoldman’sadustmanhewearsadustman’shatD7
HewearscorblimeytrousersandhelivesinacouncilGflat
HelooksapropernarnerinhisgreatG7bighobnailedCboots
He’sD7gotsuchajobtopullemupthathecallsthemdaisyGroots
GSomefolksgivetipsatChristmasandsomeofthemD7forget
SowhenhepickstheirbinsuphespillssomeontheGsteps
NowoneoldmangotnastyandG7tothecouncilCwrote
NextD7timemyoldmanwent’roundtherehepunchedhimuptheGthroat
G(spoken)IsayIsayLez!I‘er,Ifoundapolicedoginmydustbin
(Howdoyouknowhe’sapolicedog?)Hehadapolicemanwithhim!!
GThoughmyoldman’sadustmanhe’sgotaheartofD7gold
Hegotmarriedrecentlythoughhe’s86yearsD7old
Wesaid‘Ere!HangonDadyou’reG7gettingpastyourCprime’
Hesaid‘D7WellwhenyougettomyageithelpstopasstheGtime’
G(spoken)IsayIsayIsay!Mydustbinsfulloflillies
(Wellthrow’emawaythen)Ican’tLilly’swearingthem!!
NowGonedaywhileinahurryhemissedalady’sD7bin
Hehadn’tgonebutafewyardswhenshechasedafterGhim
‘Whatgamedoyouthinkyou’replaying’sheG7criedrightfromtheCheart
D7’You’vemissedme,amItoolate?’‘NojumpupontheGcart’
G(spoken)IsayIsayIsay(Whatyouagain!)Mydustbin’sabsolutelyfullwithtoadstools
(Howdoyouknowit’sfull)‘Costhere’snot“mushroom”inside!!
HeGfoundatiger’sheadoneday,nailedtoapieceofD7wood
ThetigerlookedquitemiserablebutIsupposeitGshould
Justthenfromoutawindow,aG7voicebegantoCwail
D7Hesaid(Oi!Where’smetigerhead)Fourfootfromit’sGtail!!
NexttimeyouseeadustmanG7lookingallpaleandCsad
Don’tD7kickhiminthedustbinitmightbemyoldGdadFEDDFG
SONG DATA3 Chords, 200 Chains, 1 BookDiscover the most-used three-chord combinations in songs and build real command on guitar.
14,015 TRANSITIONS ANALYZED#1 at 23%: Which Transition?Master guitar today with the most repeated high-impact chord transitions.
ArtistLonnie Donegan
AlbumSingle
GenresFolk
Year1960
KeyG
DifficultyAdvanced

How to play My Old Man's a Dustman on Guitar (Step-by-step)

Lonnie Donegan - My Old Man's a Dustman on guitar requires 9 chords and 13 core chord transitions. You can find the full step-by-step guide below. Before you start, tune your instrument. The song uses the ↓-↓↑-↓-↓↑-↓↑↓↑ pattern; practice it muted first, or simplify to downstrokes while you learn the changes.

My Old Man's a Dustman uses these transitions most often: D7 → G (12), A7 → D7 (6), and C → D7 (6). These transitions may feel a little challenging at first, but with steady practice you can play this song quickly.When you are ready, begin with G - D chord transition.

1. G → D chord transition

Guitar G chord diagram Fingering: 3-2-0-0-0-3Guitar G chord diagram
Guitar D chord diagram Fingering: x-x-0-2-3-2Guitar D chord diagram

Here's how to move from G to D:

  1. Lift your index finger from A string fret 2 and place it on G string fret 2.
  2. Slide your middle finger from E string fret 3 to E string fret 2.
  3. Lift your ring finger from E string fret 3 and place it on B string fret 3.

This transition appears in the verse, played 2 times.

G to D

2. D → Em chord transition

Guitar D chord diagram Fingering: x-x-0-2-3-2Guitar D chord diagram
Guitar Em chord diagram Fingering: 0-2-2-0-0-0Guitar Em chord diagram

Switching from D to Em:

  1. While playing D, lift your index finger from G string fret 2.
  2. Lift your middle finger from E string fret 2 and place it on A string fret 2.
  3. Slide your ring finger from B string fret 3 to D string fret 2.

This transition appears in the verse, played 2 times.

D to Em

3. Em → A7 chord transition

Guitar Em chord diagram Fingering: 0-2-2-0-0-0Guitar Em chord diagram
Guitar A7 chord diagram Fingering: x-0-2-0-2-0Guitar A7 chord diagram

Switching from Em to A7:

  1. While playing Em, lift your ring finger from D string fret 2.
  2. Lift your middle finger from A string fret 2 and place it on B string fret 2.
  3. Place index finger on D string fret 2.

This transition appears in the verse, played 2 times.

Em to A7

4. A7 → D7 chord transition

Guitar A7 chord diagram Fingering: x-0-2-0-2-0Guitar A7 chord diagram
Guitar D7 chord diagram Fingering: x-x-0-2-1-2Guitar D7 chord diagram

To move from A7 to D7:

  1. Lift your index finger from D string fret 2 and place it on B string fret 1.
  2. Slide your middle finger from B string fret 2 to G string fret 2.
  3. Place ring finger on E string fret 2.

This transition appears in the verse, played 6 times.

A7 to D7

5. D7 → G chord transition

To move from D7 to G:

  1. Lift your index finger from B string fret 1 and place it on A string fret 2.
  2. Slide your middle finger from G string fret 2 to E string fret 3.
  3. Slide your ring finger on E string from fret 2 to fret 3.

This transition appears in the verse, played 12 times.

6. G → G7 chord transition

To move from G to G7:

  1. Keep index finger on A string fret 2.
  2. Keep middle finger on E string fret 3.
  3. Slide your ring finger on E string from fret 3 to fret 1.

This transition appears in the verse, played 5 times.

7. G7 → C chord transition

Here's how to move from G7 to C:

  1. Lift your index finger from A string fret 2 and place it on B string fret 1.
  2. Slide your middle finger from E string fret 3 to D string fret 2.
  3. Lift your ring finger from E string fret 1 and place it on A string fret 3.

This transition appears in the verse, played 6 times.

8. C → D7 chord transition

Here's how to move from C to D7:

  1. Keep index finger on B string fret 1.
  2. Lift your middle finger from D string fret 2 and place it on G string fret 2.
  3. Slide your ring finger from A string fret 3 to E string fret 2.

This transition appears in the verse, played 6 times.

9. D7 → G7 chord transition

To move from D7 to G7:

  1. Lift your index finger from B string fret 1 and place it on A string fret 2.
  2. Slide your middle finger from G string fret 2 to E string fret 3.
  3. Slide your ring finger on E string from fret 2 to fret 1.

This transition appears in the verse.

10. G → F chord transition

Switching from G to F:

  1. Lift your index finger from A string fret 2 and place it on E string fret 1.
  2. Slide your middle finger from E string fret 3 to G string fret 2.
  3. Lift your ring finger from E string fret 3 and place it on A string fret 3.
  4. Place pinky on D string fret 3.

This transition appears in the verse.

11. F → E chord transition

Here's how to move from F to E:

  1. While playing F, lift your pinky from D string fret 3.
  2. Lift your index finger from E string fret 1 and place it on G string fret 1.
  3. Slide your middle finger from G string fret 2 to A string fret 2.
  4. Lift your ring finger from A string fret 3 and place it on D string fret 2.

This transition appears in the verse.

12. E → D chord transition

To move from E to D:

  1. Slide your index finger on G string from fret 1 to fret 2.
  2. Slide your middle finger from A string fret 2 to E string fret 2.
  3. Lift your ring finger from D string fret 2 and place it on B string fret 3.

This transition appears in the verse.

13. D → F chord transition

Switching from D to F:

  1. Lift your index finger from G string fret 2 and place it on E string fret 1.
  2. Slide your middle finger from E string fret 2 to G string fret 2.
  3. Lift your ring finger from B string fret 3 and place it on A string fret 3.
  4. Place pinky on D string fret 3.

This transition appears in the verse.

My Old Man's a Dustman chord transition analysis

A short, data-driven summary of the chord flow in My Old Man's a Dustman.

  • My Old Man's a Dustman includes 56 chord transitions, 13 of them unique.
  • These transitions represent 0.01% of all chord transitions in Chordier.
  • My Old Man's a Dustman contains 3 of the top 10 transitions across Chordier.
  • These transition patterns show how My Old Man's a Dustman connects to the rest of Chordier. Mastering them helps you move to similar songs faster.
    After G, the most likely next chords across Chordier are C (25%), D (24%), and Am (13%).
    • G → D: 24%
    • G → F: 9%
    After D7, the most likely next chords across Chordier are G (51%), G7 (18%), and C (6%).
    • D7 → G: 51%
    • D7 → G7: 18%
SONG DATA3 Chords, 200 Chains, 1 BookThe 200 most popular three-chord chains from real songs. See which songs use each chain and expand your repertoire with patterns that actually matter.