Happy Birthday to You (often referred to simply as “Happy Birthday”) is one of the most recognizable songs in the world. It is simple, short and has a catchy melody, which makes it a perfect song for beginners to learn actually on any musical instrument. In this free lesson we will lean how to play this great piano song and some background of the song. We also provide you the lyrics with piano letter notes and sheet music for your practice or piano lessons at the end of the article.
Origin of Happy Birthday to You
The song’s origins date back to the late 19th century, when sisters Patty Hill and Mildred J. Hill composed it as “Good Morning to All,” a greeting song for schoolchildren. Over time, the lyrics evolved into the familiar birthday greeting we know today. It’s not known who changed the original lyrics. The first time the song was published with the lyrics Happy Birthday to You was in 1912. Despite its ubiquity, Happy Birthday to You was the subject of copyright disputes for many years until it finally entered the public domain in 2016. The song’s enduring popularity lies in its ability to bring joy and a sense of togetherness, making birthdays special for people.
Piano Letter Notes for Happy Birthday to You
Happy Birthday to You is not a nursery rhyme, but it is still a great song for young children. Since not everyone, especially young children, can read music, you can also play the song with the lyrics and the letter notes. This is much easier for beginners to understand than sheet music.
However, before you start, you should familiarize yourself with where each note is located on the piano keyboard. It can also be a good idea to label the piano keys with the notes. This will help you find the right notes in the beginning. But in order to reduce the student’s dependence on the piano key labels, you should remove them after the child can confidently play a few songs.
And be sure to check out our article on how to read piano notes, where we explain how to easily remember and find the piano keys on the keyboard, and how they correspond to the notes on the sheet music.
Here are the keys on the keyboard that you have to use for the song Happy Birthday to You:
You see that you need 2 different G notes, one low and one high G. This is difficult to indicate with simple letter notes on the lyrics and that’s we put a ‘ symbol in order to make the distinction. So keep in mind, that the last G played in this song is the high G, all other G notes played in this song is the low G.
The following chart with the lyrics and the letters enables you to learn and play it in a very easy way:
Have a listen to the recording below in order to play along or to see if you got it right:
You can also play the song by using piano chords instead of the single notes. This is a bit more challenging but a good exercise. Intermediate players can also combine right and left hand playing.
Piano Sheet Music for Happy Birthday to You
All the information about a music piece lies in the sheet music. However, sheet music is not super beginner-friendly because it requires some knowledge and learning in order to read it. That’s why lyrics with letter notes are used for kids and beginners. However, as already mentioned before with the lyrics and letter notes the song requires two different G notes. And that’s where you immediately see which G note you have to play on the piano if you know how to read sheet music.
Here are the music notes for Happy Birthday to You:
Free PDF Printables for Happy Birthday to You
Feel free to download and to share the lyrics with letter notes and the sheet music for your practicing or piano lesson!
Interested in instruments other than the piano? You can also find a free lesson on how to play Happy Birthday on the guitar, ukulele and recorder.
