Learning to play simple and fun songs on the guitar is easy. Many of my students have learned to play Happy Birthday in their first lesson. Follow the simple steps below to learn this song in just a few minutes.
Learn to play the notes
To play Happy Birthday on the guitar, you must first learn to play an open string (no left hand fingers pressing the string towards the fretboard). To do this, place your right hand over the sound hole and strike the first string (thinner string) with the tip of your right thumb or with a pick held between your right thumb and the outer edge of your right index finger. (You can also pluck the string with one of the fingers of your right hand by hooking your fingertip under the string and then plucking the string to sound the note.) Say “0” each time you sound the note because that is the number for the note played when you play an open string.
With the exception of the open string notes, playing all other notes requires holding a string at one of the frets with the tip of a finger of the left hand. Press the tip of your left thumb against the back of the guitar and arch the fingers of your left hand so that you form roughly a “C” between your thumb and forefinger. With the tip of your index finger, practice pressing the first string against the fretboard with your fingertip very close to each of the first four frets (closest to the head of the guitar) but without touching each fret. As you press the string down at each fret, sound the note the same way you did to play the open string. As you play these first four frets, say the numbers one through four because those are the numbers for each of these notes.
Once you’ve learned to hold down the string on the first four frets to play notes one through four, go up the neck of the guitar and do the same for the next four frets. Say the numbers five through eight while playing these notes. Finally, go back to the next four frets and practice playing these notes. Say the numbers nine through twelve as you play them.
By counting the open played string, you can now play thirteen different notes on that string and say the number of each note as you play it. Now you know all the notes to play Happy Birthday on the guitar. Most guitars are marked with a dot on the fretboard at the 5th, 7th, and 12th frets, so finding the correct fret for each numbered note is not difficult at all with just a little practice.
Playing the song
Now you will learn how to play Happy Birthday on your guitar in four groups of notes. Use your ear to guide you to the right moment as you play each group of notes. Play the first group of notes (0-0-2-0-5-4). Play the two open notes faster than the other notes. In fact, you will play the first two notes in each group faster than the other notes in each group.
Then play the second group (0 – 0 – 2 – 0 – 7 – 5). The first four notes are the same as the first group, so memorizing the first half of the song is easy.
Play the third group below (0 – 0 – 12 – 9 – 5 – 4 – 2). Finally, play the fourth group (10 – 10 – 9 – 5 – 7 – 5). Practice the song until you can play it softly on the first string. With just a little practice, you can easily learn how to play Happy Birthday on guitar by following these steps!
Play on other keys
Because you are playing with fret numbers, you can play this song on any of the strings. Except for the sixth string, which has the same notes at each fret as the first string, playing Happy Birthday on the other strings changes the song to a different key. You have now learned how to play Happy Birthday on the guitar in five different tones!