Piano songs · Beginner
Happy Birthday on piano
Happy Birthday is the one song everyone will ask you to play. It's short, it's in a comfortable key, and there's just one leap to watch. Here are the notes and a simple left hand.
The tune in letter names, lit as it plays. Right hand in peach, left hand in lilac. Turn off "Both hands" to hear the tune alone.
About the piece
The melody comes from "Good Morning to All", a song for schoolchildren written by the sisters Mildred and Patty Hill in 1893. For decades the song was claimed under copyright, until a US court ruled in 2015 that the claim wasn't valid; it's now free to play and share in the United States.
The notes
The letters above are the tune, played by your right hand: G G A G C; B G G A G; D C G G G; E C B A F F E; C D C. Longer boxes are longer notes. Press Play and follow along, then slow it down with the speed slider and play with it.
How to learn it
- The short-long start: "Hap-py" is a quick pair, the first note a little longer than the second. Say the words as you play.
- The leap: on "birthday dear" the tune jumps up to the high G. Look for it before you get there and move your whole hand.
- Three beats: it's a waltz-time song, counted "1-2-3". The long notes at the end of lines last two or three beats.
- Left hand: one low note per bar (C, G or F), held for three beats.
Learning Happy Birthday? Ivory listens to you play and tells you what's off: a note that's missing, a hand that lands late, a rhythm that runs away. Then it shows you how it should go.
Questions people ask
What are the notes to Happy Birthday on piano?
G G A G C B, G G A G D C, G G G E C B A, F F E C D C (starting on the G below middle C's octave, in C major).
Is Happy Birthday copyrighted?
In the United States it's free to use: a court ruled in 2015 that the copyright claim on it wasn't valid.
More songs to play
A simple arrangement of a public-domain melody. Piano sound: Salamander Grand Piano by Alexander Holm, CC BY 3.0.