1. Tunefox.com
  2. Banjo songs
  3. The Girl I Left Behind Me

The Girl I Left Behind Me banjo tabs

Back
  • Tablatures

    Scruggs Style

    Traditional

    This is a fun arrangement of The Girl I Left Behind Me. Then again, when is Scruggs style banjo not fun? Well it can be frustrating to learn, but I guarantee if you force yourself to go as slow as necessary to get the notes right, you will enjoy the learning process more. Isolating a measure or two to nail down new licks is a good practice habit. Try it out for the first measure in the B part. The right hand is a little bit tricky, but nothing you can't handle with a little patience. Remember, slow and steady wins the race!

    Learn
  • Melodic Style

    Traditional

    This is a very simple melodic version of The Girl I Left Behind Me. We've got the tempo set to 80 bpm, but remember to adjust the tempo slider wherever you need. You can also loop measures slowly, or pause the music entirely. Learn at your own speed. enjoy this one, and check out the great substitution licks!

    Learn
  • Single String Style

    Traditional

    Take it easy! Just cause you are playing banjo, doesn't mean you have to set the strings on fire each time you play. Music can still be fun at slower speeds. Music is a feeling. Do you like feeling rushed all the time? Probably not. When playing The Girl I Left Behind Me, try to imagine taking a nice stroll down by a riverside, or lazily swinging in a hammock. Use the 4 to 5 slide to shift positions, and use the open strings to make position shifts when necessary.

    Learn

More about The Girl I Left Behind Me

"The Girl I left behind", otherwise called "The Girl I Left Behind Me", is an English melody from the Elizabethan era. It could be referred to as a war tune as it is usually played when warriors left for war or a maritime vessel set sail. It originated in 1758 when English Admirals Hawke and Rodney were watching the French fleet. In 1791, Dublin housed the first printed version of the song. As a mainstream tune with a few varieties, "The Girl, I Left Behind Me" may have been brought into America around 1650 as 'Brighton Camp', of which a duplicate dating from around 1796 dwells in the Bodleian Library, Oxford. Other versions of this song include; the printed 1810 under the title "The Girl I left behind Me", "Blyth Camps, Or, the Girl I abandoned Me" (1812, Newcastle), "Brighton Camp, or the Girl I deserted Me" (1815, Dublin, from which the "Brighton" title likely came), "Paragon," etc. The tune was well known in the US armed force as they adopted it from the lips of a Brit is detainee who was singing it. The Army utilized this tune as a walking tune all through the nineteenth century.

Here are 3 killer arrangements of The Girl I Left Behind Me for you to share with friends at your next jam. The Scruggs style arrangement will get you started learning slides, hammer-ons, and pull-offs. Once you’re feeling confident with that try your luck with the Melodic style solo, which will teach you how to play the melody for The Girl I Left Behind Me using up the neck scales. Finally, the Backup arrangement will show you how to play this song with others and sound like a pro doing it.

There are many Scruggs, melodic and bluesy licks in these three banjo The Girl I Left Behind Me tablatures, which can be used to personalize each arrangement into your liking. To change measure into different arrangement, just click on the "Original Measure" text above the measure and select a different lick. You can also click the "Shuffle licks" button at the bottom of the page to randomly change all of the licks in the tablature and create a wholly unique arrangement of this song.

Be sure to check out all of the great learning tools that Tunefox has to offer such as "Hide Notes", "Memory Train", and "Speed Up". These tools can be found in the "Tools" menu at the bottom right of your screen. Want to learn some of The Girl I Left Behind Me by ear? Use "Hide Notes" to hide some or all of the notes in the tablature. Once you’re finished learning with the tab use the "Memory Train" tool to commit the song to memory. Then practice with "Speed Up" to improve your technique and speed in no time.

Use the Tunefox backing tracks to practice the solo you’re working on or improvising over the chord changes for The Girl I Left Behind Me. 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.

When you’ve finished creating your arrangement of The Girl I Left Behind Me, export your song arrangement to PDF file. This feature is for members of Tunefox, only.