Play along
Happy Birthday to You: guitar chords and tab for beginners
United States, 1893
Happy Birthday to You
by Patty and Mildred Hill
- Tempo
- 100beats per minute
- Count
- 3beats in each bar
- Key
- C majorthe home note
- Level
- 1 of 3easiest
Level 1. Strum one chord per beat. Start here.
Chord names above, strum arrows below. Down arrow = strum down toward the floor, up arrow = back up.
Hold this chord
How to read it
- Red cross: don’t play that string. Skip it when you strum.
- Green circle: play that string open, with no finger on it.
- Number: press there with that finger. 1 index, 2 middle, 3 ring, 4 pinky.
- Letters: the strings, thickest (low E) on the left to thinnest (high e) on the right.
Space bar plays and pauses. Left and right arrows jump a bar.
The chords
The chords in Happy Birthday to You
3 chords, open shapes apart from F: C, G7, F. 3 beats in each bar, 100 beats per minute, in C major.
C major
3 fingers
Fingers, notes, sound →G seven
3 fingers
Fingers, notes, sound →F major
barre, 4 fingers
Fingers, notes, sound →
In words: C major is x 3 2 0 1 0. G seven is 3 2 0 0 0 1. F major is 1 3 3 2 1 1 (finger 1 flat across fret 1). Numbers are frets, thick string to thin, and x means do not play that string.
About the song
Two sisters, Patty and Mildred Hill, wrote the tune in 1893 as a classroom song called Good Morning to All. It is now public domain everywhere. It uses three chords and the melody never leaves the first three frets, so it is a good second song.
Questions people ask
- What chords are in Happy Birthday to You?
- Three chords: C, G7 and F. F needs a finger laid flat across the neck, which is the hard part of this one.
- What key is Happy Birthday to You in?
- C major. The key control on this page moves it up or down, and tells you where to put a capo so you can keep the same easy shapes.
- Is Happy Birthday to You easy to play on guitar?
- Yes. It is one of the easier songs here: three chords at 100 beats per minute, and you can slow it to half speed while you learn it.
- What is the strumming pattern for Happy Birthday to You?
- Five strums in each bar: down, down, up, down, up. There are 3 beats in every bar. The arrows above the chord boxes move with the sound, so you can see the pattern as you hear it.
- How do I play Happy Birthday to You on guitar?
- Three ways on this page, all from the same arrangement. Chords mode strums one chord at a time, Melody mode picks the tune from the tab, and Fingerstyle mode plays the bass with your thumb under the tune. Start in Chords mode at 60 percent speed.
- Who wrote Happy Birthday to You?
- Patty and Mildred Hill. United States, 1893. The music is old enough to be in the public domain, so it is free to learn, play and record.
Learn more
How to read guitar tabs
How to read guitar tabs: six lines are the six strings, numbers are frets, left to right is time.
Basic guitar chords
The basic guitar chords every beginner learns first: C, G, D, A, E, Am, Em and Dm, with diagrams you can hear and the order to learn them in..
How to learn guitar for beginners
How to learn guitar for beginners: a week by week plan for the first three months, what to practise each day, the mistakes that slow people down..
Guitar notes
Guitar notes explained for beginners: the twelve notes of music, where they sit on the neck, what sharps and flats are, and how notes join up into chords..
More
More songs
France, 18th century
Frère Jacques
Traditional
Easiest2 chords: C, G7United States, 1852
Row, Row, Row Your Boat
Traditional
Easiest2 chords: C, G7United States, 1857
Jingle Bells
James Lord Pierpont
Easy3 chords: C, F, G7United States, early 1900s
When the Saints Go Marching In
Traditional
Easy4 chords: C, G7, C7, FUnited States, 1848
Oh! Susanna
Stephen Foster
Easiest2 chords: C, G7United States, 1887
Away in a Manger
James Ramsey Murray
Easy3 chords: C, F, G7