Here is a quick lesson if you want to play Happy Birthday on the piano or you just want to start to quickly play the piano regardless if you know a little about music or nothing at all. Playing the piano is much easier by learning the chords and developing an ear than it is by picking up a piece of music and trying to sight read. By learning a few chords, you will be able to play Happy Birthday on the piano effortlessly and in no time at all.
If you have studied music before this will certainly be helpful because you will need to know some basics of reading music but learning the basics is not difficult even if you never had a lesson before. You can play Happy Birthday on the piano or any other song you know easily using chords and a melody line.
START WITH SOME BASICS
To play Happy Birthday on the piano you will need to learn some basics first. Music is written down with symbols called notes and each note has a corresponding letter that also corresponds with a white key on the piano keyboard. There are only seven notes and they are as follows: A B C D E F G.
Now because there are 52 keys on a piano, you have to know where to play the note and at what octave. For our purposes, an octave is a set of eight keys on a standard piano keyboard. For example Low C to Middle C is an octave consisting of the following eight notes: C D E F G A B C. Middle C to High C is the next octave consisting of the same notes only played one octave higher on the keyboard. Refer to the picture illustrations showing D note placement on the piano keyboard from octave to octave and Middle C placement on the piano keyboard.
MIDDLE C
Middle C is written in music using an imaginary line under the first line of the staff on the treble clef which is E (refer to illustration above). The white key at the base (the left side) of any set of “two” black keys is always going to be a “C” and middle C is roughly in the middle of the keyboard.
ABOUT THE BLACK KEYS
Look at the illustration. The black keys are grouped in sets of two and three black keys throughout the piano keyboard and their only purpose is to make the corresponding white key on the piano sharp or flat. (Note that we will not be using any black keys to play Happy Birthday on the piano). Black keys also help you to locate the note you want to play. We already stated that C is at the base of any set of “two” black keys.The white key at the base of any set of “three” black keys on a piano keyboard is always going to be an F.
EVERY GOOD BOY DOES FINE
Music notes are written on a kind of graph called a staff. Five lines make up a staff with four spaces in between the lines. Notes are written on the lines and in the spaces and each musical note corresponds with a white key on the piano keyboard.
We are only going to concentrate on the melody line (designated by a symbol called a treble clef) to play Happy Birthday on the piano. It is important to know that the first note on the first or bottom line of the music staff is an E. The second line is G. The third line is B, the fourth line is D. The fifth and top line is F; hence the sentence “Every Good Boy Does Fine” which is a catchy phrase designed to help you remember the notes on each line of the music staff which again are E G B D and F.
FACE
The notes of the four spaces in between the lines of the music staff are F A C E. By now, I hope you see a pattern here: the lines and spaces together starting with the imaginary line of Middle C are: C D E F G A B C D E F and so on.
CHORDS
The major chords are comprised of 3 notes played together. C chord consists of C, E, and G played together (simultaneously and in whatever order, for example you could play C E G together, E G C together, or G C E to play a C major chord); F major chord consists of F, A, and C played together (or A C F or C F A), and G major chord consists of G, B, and D (or B D G or D G B) played together. There are different chord variations so a good beginner chord book is a good investment if you want to learn a variety of chords.
BEFORE YOU PLAY
Reading music with the melody line and the chords is a lot easier than reading traditional music which consists of a treble clef and a bass clef which needs to be read and played together simultaneously. The treble clef is generally played with the right hand and bass clef is generally played with the left hand. For our purpose in learning to play Happy Birthday on the piano, we will only be using the treble clef and 3 major chords, C, F, and G played as mentioned in the paragraph above on Chords.
Before you play Happy Birthday on the piano, take a look at the illustrations and see if you can find the keys on the piano that correspond with the notes in Happy Birthday. The first two notes in Happy Birthday are a G and the first chord is G. The third note is an A and the fourth note is back to G while the chord is C. To play Happy Birthday on the piano, you will need to find the corresponding notes and practice coordinating the chords with the melody line. You already know the song so you will not have to worry about timing.
To play Happy Birthday on the piano, position your right hand for the melody on about the Middle C range. Position your left hand at about Low C, which is 8 keys down, or under, Middle C, to play the chords in Happy Birthday on the piano.
PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER
First practice playing the chords with three fingers of your left hand. I was taught to use thumb, middle finger and little finger to play chords but really whatever feels comfortable to you works fine. The melody is played with the right hand and this is the tune of the song. Learning to play songs you know is easier then songs you have never heard before because you already know how they are supposed to sound. Remember this method is for playing Happy Birthday and other songs quickly and easily on the piano and not a replacement for formal music lessons .
Learning chords takes a little practice so that every time you see a C chord, you will automatically play the C E and G notes together effortlessly. Happy Birthday is a good song to learn because the melody repeats throughout the song and it only uses three chords. The melody line will be easy to read when you know the chords. Learning chords also helps you to develop an ear so that you will be able to play melodies you already know. Developing an ear will also make it easier for you to learn new songs. Are you ready to play Happy Birthday on the piano?
HAPPY BIRTHDAY MELODY
To play Happy Birthday on the piano play the following notes for the melody: FIRST LINE: G / G / A / G / High C / B; SECOND LINE: G / G / A / G / High D / High C; THIRD LINE: G / G / High G / High E / High C / B / A; and LAST LINE: High F / High F / High E / High C / High D / High C. Practice playing the notes to Happy Birthday with your right hand alone on the piano until you can play the melody smoothly and effortlessly.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHORDS
The chords to play for Happy Birthday are: FIRST LINE: G / C / C / G; SECOND LINE: G / G / G / G / C; THIRD LINE: C / C / C / C / F / F; and LAST LINE: F / F / C / C / G / C. Practice playing these chords alone on the piano until you can play them effortlessly.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU
CHORDS………………………………………………………..NOTES
G……………………………………………………………………G / G
C……………………………………………………………………A
C……………………………………………………………………G
C……………………………………………………………………C (High)
G…………………………………………………………………….B
G……………………………………………………………………G / G
G…………………………………………………………………..A
G…………………………………………………………………..G
G…………………………………………………………………..D (High)
C……………………………………………………………………C (High)
C…………………………………………………………………….G/G
C……………………………………………………………………..G (High)
C………………………………………………………………………E (High)
C………………………………………………………………………C (High)
F………………………………………………………………………B
F……………………………………………………………………..A
F……………………………………………………………………….F/F (High)
C ………………………………………………………………………E (High)
C……………………………………………………………………….C (High)
G……………………………………………………………………….D (High)
C………………………………………………………………………..C (High)
Practice playing the chords and notes together until you can play it effortlessly. Many of the notes and chords in Happy Birthday are repeated throughout the song so try to memorize the melody and the chords. The next time you want to play Happy Birthday on the piano you will be able to play it easily and effortlessly!
