Your first song: Happy Birthday
This lesson is fully written out below — tab, chords, and all. Video is on the way.
About this lesson
The most-played song on Earth, and it's public domain — three chords from the key of C, a singable melody, and a guaranteed audience every year.
Why this song first
Happy Birthday uses three chords you already met in the key of C, everyone you play it for knows exactly how it goes, and — since a famous 2016 court case — it belongs to all of us. It's also sneaky-good practice: the melody makes you move across strings, and the chords change at honest, singable moments.
Learn it two ways: the melody (one note at a time), then the chords (to accompany singing). Melody first — it trains your ear to hear where the chords want to change.
Part 1 — the melody
hap-py birth-day to you hap-py birth-day to you e|----------------------------|----------------------------| B|------------------1----0----|------------------3----1----| G|--0---0----2---0------------|--0---0----2---0------------| hap-py birth-day dear [name] hap-py birth-day to you e|-------------3----0------------|--1---1----0----------------| B|------------------------1---0--|----------------1----3----1-| G|--0---0---------------------2--|----------------------------|
Play it phrase by phrase. Sing along — 'hap-py birth-day to you' — while you pick. The rhythm you already know from every birthday party is the rhythm you play.
Part 2 — the chords
Chords + words
C G7
Hap-py birth-day to you
G7 C
Hap-py birth-day to you
C F
Hap-py birth-day dear [name]
C G7 C
Hap-py birth-day to youOne strum per chord name to start. G7 is G's jazzier cousin — one finger different, and it pulls the song home to C like gravity.
Make it yours
Start with one strum per chord and sing the melody over it. When the changes feel smooth, strum on every beat. When THAT feels smooth, you have a party trick for life.
Goal for the week: play it for one real person. Dog is acceptable. Cake optional.
Your notes
Private to you. Saved to your account.