Happy Birthday to You - guitar tab, notes, chords and lyrics
“Happy Birthday to You” is recognized as the most common song in English that is sung at a birthday party, and is sometimes informally referred to as simply “Birthday Song”. The song has been translated into many languages. It has been attributed to Patty and Mildred J. Hill, but is more likely composed by somebody else. The song is sometimes referred to by the title “Good Morning to All”.
The music transcriptions of the song with tabs and notes are available for download as PDFs. It's free for personal use only.
Melody & full accompaniment
Free tabs and notes plus sound.
Happy Birthday to You guitar tab and notes (pdf)
"Happy Birthday to You" for guitar with full accompaniment. Free download in pdf-file and audio.
Happy Birthday to You guitar accompaniment
Happy Birthday to You (only melody)
“Happy Birthday to You” standard and tablature notation for guitar presented as an image.
Tips on how to learn this song
“Happy Birthday to You” is composed with the AABB structure: the first and second bars are similar to the third and fourth bars whereas the fifth and sixth bars are similar to the seventh and eighth bars. The melody in the version presented is played in open position and many notes are played with open strings which makes it easier.
Lyrics and chords
Happy Birthday to You chords in the key of C
Happy (C)birthday to (G)you,
Happy (G7)birthday to (C)you,
Happy birthday, dear (F)[name],
Happy (C)birthday to you.
Download this song in pdf with chord charts, included in 60 Traditional songs e-book.
The song includes only four chords, if both G and G7 are counted. The G - G7 change creates some extra tension before the progression resolves to the tonal center, C that is.
There are possibilities to change the key by using a capo, including these keys:
- Capo 2: D major
- Capo 4: E major
- Capo 5: F major
Key, time, tuning and tempo
Information about "Happy Birthday to You" considering musical key, time signature, tuning and bpm.
Key
The presented version of Happy Birthday to You is played in the key of C.
Time signature
The song is played in 3/4 time (counted one, two, three for each measure)
Tuning
The song is normally played in standard tuning (EADGBE).
Tempo (BPM)
The tempo in beats per minute is 100 for the presented version.