A while back I posted a solo guitar arrangement of Happy Birthday.
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
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Try Happy Birthday for Solo Fingerstyle Guitar!
Until recently, I’ve never bothered to learn a respectable arrangement of “Happy Birthday.” Here’s a song that I never plan on performing, and yet receive more requests for than any other. When you consider that most folks go out to a bar or restaurant with friends and family to celebrate their special day, I guess it should come as no surprise that there’s a birthday in the room almost every night. So after faking my way through a few times, I finally sat down to create a solo guitar arrangement for myself. If you enjoy the arrangement or have any questions please leave me a comment. I’d love to hear from you!
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.
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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.
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