I’ve since received a few requests for an easier accompaniment part suitable for basic strumming so here’s the version I teach my beginning/intermediate students. It’s in D major, uses only first-position chords, features a basic bass/chord strumming pattern, and best of all – it sounds really good! The optional introduction simply places the final few bars of the melody atop the chords and will help you set up the tempo and key for the big sing-along. Please leave a comment below if you enjoy the arrangement.

Happy Birthday Accompaniment for Guitar PDF

Looking for a solo fingerstyle guitar arrangement?
Try Happy Birthday for Solo Fingerstyle Guitar!

Rhythm Changes PDF

Download audio file (RC_Lick.mp3)

Download MP3

The Music

Below you can download my arrangement in PDF format and listen to a recording of it. Please leave a comment below if you enjoy the arrangement.

Happy Birthday PDF
Download audio file (Happy_Birthday.mp3)

Looking for an easier version?
Try Easy Happy Birthday Accompaniment for Guitar!

Practice Notes

My goal was to create a simple, traditional sounding arrangement that would support vocals if anyone wanted to sing along. No fancy ornamentations or chord substitutions were used, although I am considering doing a jazz arrangement at some point.

Pay close attention to the left-hand fingerings indicated in the music. These will give the smoothest, most connected sound to your playing.

As always, the melody is paramount. Work to bring the melody notes out above the volume of the accompaniment. Be careful not to let one melody note sustain into the next. The most important example of this is in measure 6. When you place your second finger on the A on beat two, let the side of your finger touch the open B string to stop it from ringing. The same concept applies the melody notes in measures 2 and 4 and the bass run in measure 6 although you’ll need to explore ways of using both your left and right hand fingers to dampen any unwanted notes.

You can generally let the notes of the accompaniment sustain except where indicated by the quarter rests. Where the rests occur, let the melody sound alone and use this little reprieve to get your fingers set for the next measure. You’ll especially need the rest to transition between measures 2 and 3.

Performance Tips

You never know what will happen on the gig, but here are a few things to keep in mind:

Play an Intro
If you want to make the song a little longer or if you think there’s any chance that people will actually sing along, it’d be a good idea to play a little introduction. Playing the last four bars of the piece with the pickup notes as I’ve done on my recording will do nicely.

Cajoling the Audience
Depending on the circumstances, I sometimes like to see if I can entice the servers and the rest of the room to join in with singing. You’ll have to be the judge of what’s appropriate based on the venue and the audience.

Once is Enough
Save yourself from having to play Happy Birthday a second time by always asking if there are any other birthdays in the house before you begin. You don’t want anyone to feel slighted, and a second time though is never quite as special!

Let it Breathe
You’ll notice I marked the piece rubato. I like to slow down a little at the end of every two-measure section to give singers a chance to breathe. Even if you play the piece as an instrumental, these changes in tempo will create an expressive performance that implies the familiar lyrics.

The Key is Key
If you plan on singing, or leading a sing-along of Happy Birthday, decide on a key ahead of time. My wife Melanie who has a strong background in choral music suggests that the key of Eb Major is probably a better key for the average singer considering the one-octave range of the piece. If you’d like to try it in Eb, just place a capo at the third fret to transpose. If that key doesn’t suit your voice, move the capo around until you’ve found comfortable key.

Have At It

Well, there’s one more request you’ll be prepared for. It may not be the hippest tune in your set, but people will really appreciate it! Have fun and let me know if you use it.

In part 2 of this series I outlined four methods for using the metronome to build speed. There’s nothing wrong with giving your technique a workout, but the metronome is much more than a musical speedometer! I’ve often heard students brag about how fast they could play their scales or a particularly challenging lick. To which I might reply: “That’s great! But can you play it in time?”

You see, no matter how fast you can play, you’re simply not going to sound convincing unless you can play in time. Often musicians practicing for sheer speed lose focus on the element of the groove. A player who plays as fast as possible without locking into the beat will usually sound as if they’re skating recklessly through their solos. While they may be technically impressive, their music will lack rhythmic intensity and impact.

A guitarist who is an excellent example of combining ferocious speed and flawless in-the-pocket timing is Frank Gambale. Frank is the master of the sweep-picking technique and can play as fast as anyone on the scene today, but take one of his blistering solos and slow it down and you’ll hear that his phrases are usually made up of perfect little duplet and triplet combinations – it’s just that he may be playing 8 or 12 notes per beat rather than 4 or 3 during those fast passages!

4 Groove Building Techniques

When I talk about “groove-building techniques” what I mean is that these methods are designed to help you internalize the pulse of a steady beat. Playing fast is not the object here. Our goal is learning to maintain a tempo with minimal cues from an outside source.

1. The Usual Method Revisited
The easiest way to make sure you’re keeping a steady tempo throughout a piece of music is to simply set the metronome to the desired speed and play along making sure not to rush or drag the beat as you play. There’s nothing wrong with this approach, but there are a few more interesting and challenging methods available.

The following two methods were taught by jazz guitarist Emily Remler. Instead of relying on the metronome, you’ll be forced to internalize where beat one happens. You can see Emily demonstrate them on her Hot Licks instructional videos Bebop and Swing Guitar and Advanced Latin & Jazz Improvisation. (These titles are currently out of print but keep your eyes open at ebay and on file-sharing networks and you might just get lucky – they’re worth checking out!)

2. Accenting Two and Four
Rather than have the metronome ticking away on every beat, set the metronome to half of your intended tempo and think of the click as falling on beats two and four. For example if you are practicing a piece that has an intended tempo of quarter=120, set the metronome to 60 BMP.

This might take a little getting used to, since we usually think of the metronome as falling on beat one. If you have trouble getting into the swing of it, begin by counting along with the metronome “2, 4, 2, 4…” and then sneak counts 1 and 3 into the spaces between the clicks. You should end up counting: “1, 2, 3, 4…” with the metronome accenting beats two and four. You supply beats 1 and 3 and any subdivisions of the beat with your own internal sense of time. Imagine the click as the drummer’s snare or hi-hat pattern and you’ll get it. Once you’re grooving, you’ll actually have a lot of fun playing with the metronome!

Edit: Here are a couple of great examples of the technique as demonstrated by Pat Metheny.

3. Accenting One and Three
Accenting two and four works especially well for music with a strong emphasis on the back beat such as jazz, blues, or rock, but what happens if you are working on a classical or Latin piece, styles which tend not to emphasize the backbeat? In this case, simply set the metronome to half of your intended tempo as in method 2, but think of the metronome as accenting beats one and three. This method may be slightly easier to get the hang of than Method 2 because the downbeat of each measure is marked by the metronome, however it still requires you to internalize the missing beats and it offers a more musically correct feel for the aforementioned styles.

4. One Only
Using this method, set the metronome to click at a very slow tempo and think of that click as representing beat one of each measure. Unless you have a metronome that is capable of some unusually low settings this technique will only work at tempos of 160 BPM (or 120 BPM in 3/4 time) and higher as the lowest setting on a standard metronome is 40 BPM. This method forces you to feel the beat using only the downbeat of each measure as a reference point. This is the most difficult method outlined here as you only get one click per measure to evaluate your timing. Don’t be surprised if you find yourself speeding up and slowing down for a while before finally locking in.

In Practice

As with the the speed-building techniques, you can use these these methods with either single note or rhythm parts, or even complete solo guitar arrangements. While the speed-builders may feel like and aerobic workout, pushing the limits of your ability, the groove-builders are actually easy and fun to play with after a while. One thing thats interesting about these methods is that they get usually more difficult the slower you play.

Here’s one last challenge: as you learn new pieces, always make a notation of the tempo. You can test your recollection of the correct tempos each day by tapping the beat or playing a few bars without the metronome and then turning on the metronome to see how close you were. Soon you should be able to recall the correct tempos with accuracy!

As usual, please feel free to share any additional techniques you’ve found useful!

Metronome Techniques Part 4 Coming Soon…

Now that we’ve covered the basics of how to use a metronome, you’re probably ready for some more advanced techniques. There are lots of approaches and I like to think they fall into two main categories: speed-building techniques and groove-building techniques. This time around we’ll be looking at four popular speed-builders that are especially great for working on those burning runs, sweep picking arpeggios, and just plain fast passages! If you need a metronome to practice with, visit my Student Resources page.

Before you dive in, it bears mentioning that the methods below are designed for metronomes with the standard settings of 60,63,66,69,72 etc. If you have a digital metronome that has every possible tempo, write down or memorize the standard settings (there’s a pattern if look for it) and you’ll progress much faster.

4 Speed Building Techniques

1. The Usual Method
Typically, musicians working with a metronome begin very slowly and then gradually increase the metronome setting one notch at a time until they achieve the fastest tempo at which they can play cleanly. This method works well but may cause excessive tension. Methods 2 and 3 may be better options for steering clear of the problem of tension-related injuries and offer additional challenges as well.

2. Up 2, Down 1
I learned this technique from pianist David Budway who I studied with at Duquesne University. After each repetition of the passage you’re working on, alternate between increasing the metronome setting two notches, then decreasing it by one notch. If you’ve only been using method 1, you’ll notice that this technique teaches you to control your tempo and not just keep frantically speeding up with each change of the metronome. It’s a subtle variation but it does a nice job of adding some variety to your routine.

These next two methods were found at the website for flutist Leonard Garrison of the University of Tulsa. I’ve found them to be extremely helpful.

3. Up 3, Down 2
This variation of the “Up 2, Down 1″ method is taught by clarinetist Peter Hadcock of Eastman School of Music. Play the passage in question three times beginning at at 60 BPM. Then increase the metronome setting by three notches to 69 and play once, and only once. This will feel like quite a shock. Next, decrease the metronome setting by two notches to 66. Now you can relax a little. Now play the passage three more times. Then move the metronome up three notches again to 76 and play once. Keep repeating this process until you achieve your desired tempo. Obviously, this requires much time and patience, but it really works. You may need to pause to get focused on the new tempo each time you change the metronome.

4. Half Tempo, Full Tempo
Robert Marcellus, former principal clarinetist of the Cleveland Orchestra, taught this metronome technique: He had students repeat a section several times (evidently the number varied) at half tempo followed immediately by one playing at full tempo. Try three times at half speed followed by one at full speed. Obviously this assumes you can already play the passage at tempo and just want to attend to all of the details of the passage.

It’s recommended that you use metronome methods 1, 2, and 3 to learn a passage and 4 to maintain a passage. No matter which methods you use, always start much slower than you think you need to; I find that the slower I begin, the higher the tempo I can attain. Also, be sure to write down your starting tempo and maximum tempo each day. It may take weeks to reach the desired tempo, so be patient.

In Practice

Don’t forget that these methods are for more than learning rock solos. You can use these these methods with either single note or rhythm parts, or even complete solo guitar arrangements.

If you haven’t done this kind of practicing before you’ll likely find it to also find it an endurance building experience. If your hands begin to get tired, that’s perfectly natural, but don’t ever play with pain. Take a break and come back later, and always start slowly!

Because it can take a while to get through several repetitions of a phrase at all of the various tempos, be patient and allow yourself plenty of practice time for these exercises. One of my frustrations in half-hour lessons is that I simply do not have enough time to supervise this kind of workout in a lesson without using up all of the time I have with a student.

Don’t be afraid to play a bit sloppily to keep up with the with the metronome when you’ve reached your highest speed. Skilled musicians can maintain a relaxed and controlled sound even at the fastest tempos, but this doesn’t come easily. The only way to learn to play at these tempos it is to experience it. Go ahead and push through at the expense of clean, precise playing. As long as you return to controlled tempos each day, and your technique will eventually catch up to your raw speed.

Finally, always learn a passage a little faster than tempo you intend to perform it. After all, if you can play a passage at 160 BPM, then 144 BPM should be a snap!

Please feel free to share any additional techniques you’ve found useful!

Metronome Techniques Part 3