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Happy Birthday to You

Happy Birthday is in 3/4 and starts on a pick-up, 'hap-py', before the first strong beat. It needs two hand positions: G position for the first two lines, then one move with the octave leap in the third.

Play it in Octotune

The opening, as the app engraves it: G4, G4, A4, G4, C5

The melody in letters

Bar by bar, as the app’s melody version has it; the small numbers are the fingers.

  1. Bar 1G1G1
  2. Bar 2A2G1C4
  3. Bar 3B3G1G1
  4. Bar 4A2G1D5
  5. Bar 5C4G1G1
  6. Bar 6G5E4C2
  7. Bar 7B1A1F5F5
  8. Bar 8E4C2D3
  9. Bar 9C2

At a glance

ComposerMildred J. Hill (1859–1916)
DifficultyFirst pieces: grades 1–2 of 8
KeyC major (no sharps or flats)
Time3/4
Tempo100 quarter-note beats a minute, as the app starts it (it can go slower)
Length9 bars, about 16 seconds
Handsone hand or both, by version
Right handG4 to G5
Left handC3 to G3
On the pathUnit 8, Outward, Kids, Way up and way down

Versions in the app

VersionGradeLevels
Happy Birthday to You — melody1 of 8Full
Happy Birthday to You — with bass2 of 8Melody, Full

Practice notes

Happy Birthday starts on a pick-up: "hap-py" comes before the first strong beat, "birth-". Count "3" silently, play the two short Gs, and land on A on "1". The song is in 3/4: count 1 2 3.

In Octotune's version it starts on the G above middle C, so it sits on the treble staff:

Hand positions. The first two lines sit in G position: thumb on G, fingers on A, B, C, D. The third line leaps up an octave, more than a hand can hold, so the hand moves once, with the leap, to sit with the thumb on B. From there the little finger reaches up to the high G and the thumb stretches down to A for "dear...". The last line stays there.

The tricky part is that leap: G up to the G an octave higher. Practise the move on its own: play the two short Gs, lift the whole hand, and land finger 5 on high G.

Practice plan. Learn lines one and two in Wait for me. Then line three, slowly, hand move included. Then the whole song with Play along.

In the path: Unit 8 for grown-ups, which introduces high G, and the Kids unit Way up, way down.

Questions

What are the piano notes for Happy Birthday?

G G A G C B; G G A G D C; G G G(high) E C B A; F F E C D C. In Octotune's version the first G is the one above middle C.

What is the hardest part of Happy Birthday on piano?

The leap up an octave in the third line, 'happy birth-day dear...', from G to the G above. The hand has to move for it.

Credits and licence

The Octotune team · Updated