The possibility of reproducing the normal vibrations of methanol, CH3OH, and its deutero-derivatives CH3OD, CD3OH, CD3OD using a valence force field has been critically analyzed. A 13 parameter valence force field has been determined by least square calculations. The meaning of the obtained numbers and their validity in molecular spectroscopy are discussed and compared with the information already available in the literature. It is concluded that the vibrational modes of this molecule are fairly well known within the harmonic approximation.