Happy Birthday to You (commonly known as “Happy Birthday”) is one of the most recognizable songs in the world. Its simplicity, brevity, and catchy melody make it an ideal piece for beginners to learn on any musical instrument, including the ukulele. In this free lesson, we’ll explore how to play this popular song on the ukulele and talk a bit about the background. We’ll also provide the lyrics with the basic chords, ukulele tabs and sheet music for your practice or ukulele lessons at the end of the article.
History of Happy Birthday to You
Happy Birthday to You dates back to the late 19th century. The song was composed by American sisters Patty and Mildred J. Hill in 1893 as part of a song called “Good Morning to All,” intended for kindergarten children. The familiar birthday lyrics were added later, and the song gained widespread popularity. But it’s not known who changed the original lyrics after to the lyrics that we know nowadays. The first known publication of the “Happy Birthday” lyrics appeared in 1912. By the early 20th century, the song had become the universal birthday anthem it is today, celebrated around the world.
Ukulele Tabs for Happy Birthday to You
You can be play any song in a different kind of styles on your ukulele, from simple versions with basic chords and strumming to complex fingerstyle arrangements. But in this lesson we rather concentrate on the beginner-friendly version Let’s start with a version in a pitch that’s also easy to sing for most of us. We’ll show you how to play the song by both fingerpicking the melody and strumming with chords. By the end, you’ll be able to choose the version that best suits your preference or is most appropriate for teaching your students.
1. Level: Playing only on One Ukulele String
Are you familiar with fingerpicking? If not, discover it with our students. And for most songs, you can play the melody on just one string of your ukulele. Playing a melody on just one string allows you to concentrate on plucking just one string and moving just one finger up and down the fretboard without worrying too much about the other strings. This makes it a very easy version, especially for young beginners. All you have to do is press down on the first string with either the index or middle finger of your left hand, then pluck the string with your right thumb.
Using horizontal lines as strings and numbers on those lines to represent the fret you should play, tablature gives us the guidance we need to start picking away at songs and their melodies. The strings are “upside-down”, meaning that the high sounding E is the highest line on your tablature. A zero (0) means you play the string open without any fingers on any frets. Learn more about reading guitar tabs!
Here are the ukulele tabs for Happy Birthday on one string:
Check out our recording of this one string version on the ukulele!
You can also play the same melody on any other string of your ukulele as well. Try for example the 3rd string to have a pretty low version Happy Birthday.
2. Level: Playing on several Ukulele Strings
Playing the melody on just one string is a nice way to get started, but if you stay on just one string, your playing will be quite limited. You should also discover versions that include the other strings. And fingerpicking a song using the other strings of your ukulele is much more common because it’s more efficient. It reduces the amount of left hand movement along the neck. Although this approach requires you to use more fingers to press down on different strings and to pluck different strings, it’s a good practice for beginners to improve their ukulele playing.
Here are the ukulele tabs for playing the nursery rhyme on the first three strings:
We have also recorded the playing of the song on the first three strings. Check out this version.
Ukulele Chords For Happy Birthday To You
If you fingerpick the melody on your ukulele, everyone will recognize the song for sure even without singing it. And this is already great because you can play Happy Birthday just for a friend or family member and make a nice surprise. But, if you want to sing along to a song the chord version is much more common. Let’s play the song in the key o G with some easy ukulele chords. We need the following basic ukulele chords: G and D and C.
Here are the chord diagrams for the required chords:
Guitar Chords are illustrated in guitar chords diagram. They are a simplified illustration of the guitar neck and it tells you where to put which finger on which string. Learn more about how to read guitar chords!
You already know how to play these chords? Great! And you have no problems to change between them? Even better, because then you can get started playing this song. But if you’re not quite there yet, start by practicing the G and D and C chords separately. And once, you know how to play these chords, you can start strumming the G-D-C sequence with simple downstrokes until you can play it without mistakes.
And remember, it’s important for beginners to start new songs slowly. Focus on playing a simple down strum with each chord change. This will make it much easier to learn new songs. Singing along with a song is another challenge, because you have to get both the ukulele playing and the singing right. Again, try to start slowly and just strum down each chord change while singing along. Once you’re comfortable, you can start experimenting with other strumming patterns and techniques.
Ukulele Sheet Music for Happy Birthday To You
Sheet music is the standard resource for all advanced players and ukulele teachers when it comes to reading music, as it gives you detailed information about the pitches, rhythms and chords of a song. However, for beginners, sheet music can be quite challenging to read due to the need to understand music theory. Therefore, ukulele tabs or chord boxes are usually more suitable for young students and children, as they simplify the learning process and make it more accessible. However, if you can read music, you should use it!
Guitar Chords are illustrated in guitar chords diagram. They are a simplified illustration of the guitar neck and it tells you where to put which finger on which string. Learn more about how to read guitar chords!
Here is the sheet music for Happy Birthday to You:
Free Ukulele Printables for Happy Birthday to You
Feel free to download the chords, tabs, and sheet music as a free PDF for your practice sessions or ukulele lessons!
Interested in instruments other than the ukulele? You can also find a free lesson on how to play Happy Birthday to You on the guitar, piano and recorder.
