Piano chords · Dreamy ballad
Bad Old Days: easy piano accompaniment in letter notes
Written by Tom Paxton
- A major
- 4/4
- 120 BPM
- I–V7–I–V7 loop
- 1980
- Easy
The accompaniment with every note named, bar by bar: the bar sheet shows each note as a bar on the staff with its letter inside, so you can accompany Bad Old Days without reading music. The left hand plays ping-pong bounce (broken chord 8-5) and the right hand offbeat skank.
Bad Old Days accompaniment in letter notes
The A – E7 – A – E7 loop with ping-pong bounce in the left hand and offbeat skank in the right. Notes struck together are joined with a plus; C4 is middle C.
How to read the bar sheet
The player above shows the treble staff (right hand) over the bass staff (left hand). Every note is a bar as long as it sounds, at its place on the staff, with its name inside, and the music scrolls past a line that marks now. The chord names run along the top.
Start with the left hand alone at a slow speed, then the right, then both. When the letters feel easy, try the sheet music.
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Questions about Bad Old Days
What are the letter notes for the Bad Old Days piano accompaniment?
Bar by bar, both hands: the bar sheet on this page names every note of the accompaniment (C4 is middle C) and plays along. The loop is A – E7 – A – E7, so the letters repeat with the chords.
What chords are in Bad Old Days?
The loop is A – E7 – A – E7 (I – V7 – I – V7) in A major, and the song ends on A – E7 – A.
What key is Bad Old Days in?
A major, at about 120 beats a minute in 4/4.
What does the left hand play in Bad Old Days?
Ping-pong bounce: broken chord 8-5, an easy pattern. It follows the chords, so the same shape works for every bar.
Is Bad Old Days easy to play on piano?
Yes. Both hands play easy patterns over 4 chords. Learn the chords first, then add one hand at a time.
Made from one arrangement of this song: the left and right hands are the patterns these scores repeat most.