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All the Good Times are Past and Gone banjo tabs

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  • Tablatures

    Scruggs Style

    Flatt & Scruggs

    This is a perfect example of tasteful waltz playing in the lower register of the banjo. Scruggs uses hammer-ons, slides, and pull-offs to create a fun, yet difficult arrangement of All the Good Times are Past and Gone.

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  • Scruggs Style-2

    Flatt & Scruggs

    Learning to play in different keys-especially different chord shapes. Is very important. You never know when someone will call out a tune you know in a key you've never played. Especially if a woman is singing lead. Their range is usually quite different. They need to sing what's comfortable for them, and it's our job to follow the leader!

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  • Melodic Style

    Flatt & Scruggs

    Playing melodic style in a waltz can be tricky so play along with the All the Good Times are Past and Gone backing track a ton to get this one feeling comfortable. Luckily it's not incredibly fast!

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  • Backup

    Flatt & Scruggs

    A basic backup version that demonstrates moving from vamping in 3/4 to playing tasteful rolling backup in the style of Earl Scruggs.

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More about All the Good Times are Past and Gone

With many versions of this tune recorded, All the Good Times Have Passed and Gone is one of the most popular Bluegrass and old-time standard tunes. There is no clear origin of the song but the first recording was done by Fred and Gertrude Gossett as early as 1930. However, none of them ever made any claim to have composed the song. The song marks the turn of the 20th century and appears to be an American folksong, but it's possible that it is even much older than that. The lyrics of the song vary from recording to recording. For instance, you hear some folks sing "All the Good Times Have Passed and Gone" while others sing "All the Good Times Are Past and Gone." This happens because the song has a series of floating verses from which you can easily choose from. On the Gosset recording in 1930, he ends the chorus with "darlin', don't weep for me," while the modern modification of the tune changed it to "little darlin', don't weep no more" or even "little darlin', don't you weep no more. There are other early recordings published by Steve Ledford around 1932, the Monroe Bros. in 1937, and the Ozark Boys in 1940.

Learn 4 different versions of All the Good Times are Past and Gone, which are all shown on this page. We recommend that you get started with the Scruggs style version, where you’ll learn basic roll pattern and left-hand articulations like slides, hammer-ons, and pull-offs. Next, move on to the Melodic arrangement to learn how to play the melody for All the Good Times are Past and Gone using scales and up the next positions. Lastly, you can check out the Backup arrangement, which shows you how to play behind others while they are soloing. In every Tunefox tablature arrangement you'll find measures where you can switch out licks to see different options to use for your improvisation. This feature is called the Lick Switcher. How do you find the Lick Switcher? Look for text that says "Original Measure" over different measures in the All the Good Times are Past and Gone tab you are learning and click on that text. It'll open up the Lick Switcher where you can select a substitute measure for that spot in the song. You'll find that there are different styles of licks like Scruggs, Melodic, Bluesy, and more. Want to see a completely different version of... this song? Click on "Shuffle Licks" on the bottom of tool panel to randomly shuffle the licks in the song. There are a number of fantastic learning tools in Tunefox to help you memorize, learn by ear, and improve your speed. These special features are found in the "Tools" menu at the bottom right of your screen. The "Hide Notes" tool will hide a number of the notes in the tab so you can use your ears to learn parts of the melody of the All the Good Times are Past and Gone. Next, try out the "Memory Train" tool, which will hide more and more notes each time the song or measure loops. This will help get you off of the tab you’ve been working with so you can play it by memory. The "Speed Up" feature gradually speeds up the song so you can hone your technique and challenge yourself to go faster. Use the Tunefox backing tracks to practice the solo you’re working on or improvising over the chord changes for All the Good Times are Past and Gone. The backing tracks are recorded samples of real instruments to help simulate practicing with an actual band. You can adjust the volume of the instrument, band, and metronome to your liking. Members can export their arrangements into PDF, allowing them to print and bring them to their next jam session.

All the Good Times are Past and Gone lyrics

I wish to the lord I’d never been born
Or died when I was young
I never would have seen your sparkling blue eyes
Or heard your lying tongue All the good times are past and gone
All the good times are o’er
All the good times are past and gone
Little darling don’...rning for his own true love
Just like I mourn for mine Come back, come back my own true love
And stay awhile with me
For if ever I’ve had a friend in this world
You’ve been that friend to me