How To Play Happy Birthday Song
If theres one song you should know on guitar, its probably Happy Birthday. Even if you dont play your guitar as often as youd like, this is one must know song you can learn to celebrate the people in your life.
Well first cover the guitar chords to Happy Birthday in the key of C Major and then also show you how to play it in different keys .
Lets get started.
How To Play Happy Birthday On Guitar Simple
We will learn to play happy birthday guitar chords for beginners in the key of G Major. If you want to learn how to play Happy Birthday on the guitar I have great news for you.
Happy Birthday Now With Guitar Tabs Several Arrangements For Piano Solo Duet Happy Birthday Guitar Happy Birthday Guitar Chords Happy Birthday Music Notes
Happy Birthday Is Super Easy To Play
The good news is that Happy Birthday is so easy, you can learn to play in under five minutes or less even if you never played guitar before! Best of all, you can play it one string using just one finger. How cool is that?!
Although I think it sounds best on the low E string, you can play it on any string after this lesson, which is important because you can find the string that works best for your voice.
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How To Figure Out The First Note For Singing
If you wonder how you are supposed to figure out where to begin singing while playing Happy Birthday chords, you are not alone.
- Matching the melody you sing, to the chords you are playing is a skill that takes a while to develop, and playing Happy Birthday on guitar is a classic test.
- Never fear! You are about to be able to find your starting note for singing within the very first chord you play, the B7.
In the key of E major, the melody to Happy Birthday starts on a B, and when you play a B7, you are playing two Bs: on the A string second fret, and on the open B string.
To play Happy Birthday chords and sing as well, all you have to do is strum the B7 chord, match the pitch of your voice to one of those two Bs, and sing the word Happy on that pitch. Then youll be up and running.
- Its a familiar melody, so once you have that initial pitch, the melody practically sings itself!
- If you have taken the firm stance that you are not a vocalist under any circumstances, now is the time to reconsider. You can easily sing and play Happy Birthday on guitar with this tip, you will sound great, and your birthday person will be thrilled.
Top Tip: When you play the B7 chord, be sure to hit one of the Bs a few extra times so that you and the other singers know which note to begin on.
Do You Know Barre Chords If So Try This
If you know how to make barre chords, it is even easier to play Happy Birthday on guitar. All you have to do is convert the chords we are using into numbers according to the chart above.
E major is the I chord and A major is the IV chord, so if you use the open E major shape chord as your I chord, then the A major-shaped barre chord located at the same fret is the IV chord. You dont even have to move your hand up the neck!
Wherever your IV chord is, move it up two frets, and youve found your V chord.
E major
A Major
Using those barre chords, follow the chord progression, and you will be able to play Happy Birthday on guitar in any key you like.
Here is the chord progression for Happy Birthday, expressed in numbers : I V V I I IV I
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How To Play Happy Birthday On Acoustic Guitar
Now lets put the chords together to play the song. Use whichever G chord sounds the best to you. The song is in 3/4 time. That means there are three beats per measure.
Here is the chord pattern. Each chord represents one measure :
G-D-D-G
In this version there was one strum per beat. You can also add a different strumming pattern to this song to make it more interesting. Check out 6:04 in the video to learn this version.
When youre ready to play the song all the way through with the melody and the strum, fast forward to 8:06 in the video!
Chords For Happy Birthday In C Major
Essentially, there are 3 chords in Happy Birthday. They are the 1, 4, and 5 chord which in the key of C are C Major, F Major and G Major.
Try the following chords one at a time until you feel comfortable switching between them. These chords will be written above the melody in the next section.
If youre having a hard time playing the F chord which can be tricky when first learning it, you can skip down to try the song in other keys until you get better at this chord. Or, you can checkout this other post on 13 ways to play an F chord on guitar.
Here are some other resources for chords:
Happy Birthday to you!
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What Age Can A Child Learn To Play Guitar
The best age to learn guitar is around 7. It is possible for students to start guitar lessons as soon as they can comfortably hold a small-scale guitar and press down on the strings with their fingers.
If youre a beginner, youll need to work on your technique and learn how to play the guitar in a way thats comfortable for you. If youve been playing guitar for a long time, it might be a good idea to get a guitar teacher to help you learn the basics of guitar.
What Are The Piano Notes For Playing Happy Birthday
How To Play Happy Birthday Very Easy Piano Music. Grab the nuts with your hands so that both thumbs are in the middle of C. Let the child play while preparing and call the notes C, D, E, F, G with the right hand 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 up. and on return. Look at the happy birthday notes and ask your child to find the first happy birthday letter.
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Happy Birthday Guitar Chords Key Of C Major
There are 3 basic chords in Happy Birthday. In the key of C, they are C Major, F Major and G Major which are the 1, 4, and 5 chord.
Try the following guitar chords one at a time until you feel comfortable switching between them. These chords will be written above the melody in the next section.
If this F chord is difficult to play, you can try it without the note on the 1st string. Or you can try one of the variations mentioned in 13 ways to play an F chord on guitar.
Here are some other resources for chords:
Happy Birthday to you!
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John Holloway
John Holloway has been playing guitar for 15 years. He enjoys teaching guitar students how to play and has written extensively to share his love of the instrument. John has been featured in Business Insider, Upfuel, and other online publications for his work bringing guitar lessons online.
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In This Free Guitar Lesson You Will Learn:
- 3 quick and easy tips for playing Happy Birthday Guitar Chords
- 5 great versions of this must-know song
- 4 tips for making your A5 chords sound amazing
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If you want to be a better guitarist
What Scale Is Happy Birthday In
Happy birthday is written in the key of g major. According to the Theorytab database, it is the 3rd most popular key among Major keys and the 3rd most popular among all keys. Major keys, along with minor keys, are a common choice for birthday songs.
The song was written by John Lennon and Yoko Ono, and was released as a single on January 8, 1970. The song has been covered by many artists, including the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, The Beach Boys, Bob Dylan and many others.
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How Do You Play C Chord On Guitar
Place your first finger on the first fret of the b string, your second finger on the second fret of the d string, and your third finger on the third fret of the a string to play the c chord on the guitar. Try to keep the low E string out of your hand.
When you play a C major chord, you are playing a major triad, which is a three-note chord that contains the notes C, D and E. If you want to learn how to play these chords, take a look at our C Major Chord Lesson.
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Guitar Chords And Tabs In C
Happy Birthday Song is an extremely easy 3-chord song in a major key. We suggest the key of C major . To play the tune in C one must be familiarised with the full barré technique. The remaining two C and G chords are essential for beginners.
Besides that, the melody range that results when singing in the key of C is an octave from G4 to G5 . This range is well suited to most childrens voice pitch. Nevertheless, you could use a capo to transpose to C#, D, Eb, or Emajor by placing it respectively on fret I, II, III, or IV.
To save this free image with the guitar chords of Happy Birthday Song to your computer, right click and choose Save Image As.
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What Is The Sixth String On A Guitar
The 6th string is the thickest string and can be thought of in descending order. This is usually referred to as the low E string, meaning the lowest note on the guitar, in standard guitar tuning. The other strings are the 3rd, 5th, 7th and 9th strings. They are tuned in the same way, but with a different pitch.
For example, if you were to play a C major scale on an acoustic guitar, you would play the notes C, D, E, F, G, A, B, C# and D#. These notes would be played in ascending or descending order, depending on which string you played them on.
How To Read The Guitar Chord Charts
To clarify how to read the chord charts, the top horizontal line represents the high E string and the bottom horizontal line represents the low E string. The vertical lines separate each fret. The numbers in the blue dots tell you which fingers to use on the fretting hand.
For example, on the C Major chord, you use the:
- 1st finger on the 2nd string, 1st fret
- 2nd finger on the 4th string, 2nd fret
- 3rd finger on the 5th string, 3rd fret
- Circles represent open strings
You can check this link for more on how to read guitar notation symbols.
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Second Chord In The Song
Now lets take a look at the D chord, and how to position your fingers.
By the way click here if you want to learn3 Ways to Play the D Chord on Guitar
The Last chord we are going to have a look at is the C chord. All three chords are played in thousands of songs. Once you learn these you will be well on your way.
Playing The Happy Birthday Song On Your Guitar Finally
So, to play it now, play it now step by step.
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How To Practice Happy Birthday Easy Guitar
- Its a good idea to get used to using a practice diary right from the start. Record briefly what you have been working on in the lesson, making a note of any particular things you want them to remember.
- Help kids to understand the importance of learning to practice properly. During the lesson, talk about the way that they should approach their practice. Stress the importance of setting aside a regular time, away from background distractions.
- Encourage them to practice as soon as possible after each lesson to make sure that they dont forget the new things theyve learnt that week.
- Explain that its better to concentrate on just a small section of the music, a couple of bars at a time, and learn to play it correctly rather than attempt the whole piece with lots of mistakes.
- But also reassure the child that if they cant get something right at home, then thats not a problem, just make a note to ask for help at the next lesson thats what the lessons are for!
- A whole new piece can often be a bit daunting, so break it down into short sections and make it clear that there is no pressure to attempt the whole piece straight away.
- Children nearly always want to play things too fast. Try to explain that its better to start off very slowly, and only speed up once you can play it easily.
More Practice Tips.
If The Key Doesnt Suit Your Voice Use A Capo
If you have been playing and singing Happy Birthday on your guitar as you follow along this lesson, you will know by now whether you are comfortable singing the song in the key of E major.
- If you are uncomfortable singing this song in the key of E major, dont give up! You can easily play Happy Birthday on guitar in any key.
- All you need is a capo, and a little trial and error, and you will quickly find a comfortable vocal range and the key you should use.
The beauty of the capo is that it allows you to change the key of the song without having to change any of the chord shapes you are making. A capo gives you a super-power!
No capo? No worries! You can play Happy Birthday on guitar using a type of chord conversion called transposing.
It sounds scary, but its pretty easy.
- Happy Birthday, like many songs, follows an I-IV-V chord progression, and to convert, all you have to do is replace the E major with another I chord and follow the musical alphabet to find the IV and V7 or V chords. V and V7 are interchangeable, so use the one you know!
- Find and play the root of whichever V chord you select in order to find your initial singing note.
Here is a handy I-IV-V chart in the guitar-friendly keys of C, A, G, E, and D. Choose your I chord to replace the E major, and follow that row to convert the A and B7 chords.
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Can You Learn How Play Happy Birthday On Guitar
So, people often hire guitarists at the birthday party. This is because they dont know how to play happy birthday on guitar. In addition to this, people dont know the happy birthday songs and their lyrics. But let me tell you that you can learn the lessons and play happy birthday on guitar with your friends. Just get along with chords, lessons, c major chord, pitch, b string, strum, and melody to play happy birthday on guitar.
You can also go through this site and copy the URL of this website if you want to know something. Or you can comment down if you want more articles, links, and views on this theme. Other than this, many articles and videos will provide views and guidance for beginners. First of all, comment down your name and email address, username, inbox, and post your queries. Or you can directly leave queries in the comments.
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Happy Birthday Guitar Chords For Beginners
To start, we are going to learn how to play Happy Birthday on guitar with a chord chart.
- To use the chord chart below, you need to know three chords: E major, A major, and B7.
- B7 looks like a scary and impossible chord for the beginner, but it is a relatively simple chord change, especially when you are coming from the E major chord.
Check out this simple finger swap to change from E major to B7 your middle finger stays in the same place as a pivot point and all you have to do is move the other two fingers.
E major
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