Here are two Happy Birthday easy piano music arrangements for young pianists. The first one is for children who have only just started to play. It has an easy single melody line centered on middle C so it’s really quick to master. The second option is an easy piano music arrangement for both hands together, which is more suitable for someone who’s been playing a little longer.
If you’re new to teaching piano to kids, do take a look at my First Piano Lessons eBook . It’s filled with teaching tips, tricks and games for teaching young children the piano in an engaging way.
When kids first start learning any instrument, the challenge is to get them hooked. And while of course it’s very important to make sure that they learn the correct theory and technique, it’s also really important to make sure that they are having fun and enjoying the experience of playing pieces that they want to play both for themselves and for others.
So Happy Birthday is a great choice, as it’s one of the first and most important songs a child will learn, it has such a special significance and is of course one that that they will come to sing many times every year. So naturally it makes a great piece for young pianists to play. They always love being able to play it for their friends at birthday parties and it goes down so well with Granny too!
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How to play Happy Birthday
Find more easy sheet music like in our free resources!
Happy Birthday very easy piano music
Find more easy sheet music like in our free resources!
How To Play Happy Birthday Very Easy Piano Music
1. Place hands over the notes, with both thumbs (1s) on middle C.
2. To prepare, ask the child to play and name the notes C, D, E, F, G with the right hand 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 both up, and back down again. Then do the same with the left hand going downwards (they will find this more difficult at first) C, B, A, G, F and back up again to middle C.
3. Look at the Happy Birthday sheet music and ask the child to work out the first note on “Ha-ppy”. This is G with the left hand finger
4. As they will know the tune already they should find it quite easy to work out the first phrase, but help them to notice what the jump (interval) is on “to you”. It is a 4th, this means they jump from 4 – 1 which is G – C.
Practice One Phrase At A Time
4. The second phrase starts the same (so is just repeated) but point out the jump (interval) is one step higher (a 5th) from G – D, using the right hand fingers 2 -1 on “to you”. Practice these first two phrases a couple of times.
5. The third phrase starts again on G “Ha-ppy” in the left hand with 4th finger, but the jump is a whole 8 notes (octave) up to the G “Birth” in the right hand finger 5. Practice finding this jump a couple of times. The right hand then plays 3 -1 on “day – dear” and the left hand plays 2 – 3 on B – A which is where you insert the name of the Birthday boy/girl.
6. The fourth phrase is played by the right hand with the 4th finger on F for “Ha-ppy” then 3, 1, 2, 1, E – C – D – C on Birth-day – to you!
7. Once the child has identified all the notes it’s very good practice to sing the names of the notes as they play them. This is difficult at first and should be attempted very slowly and with no pressure, but it really checks that they fully understand what they are playing, and are not just relying on their memories!
8. Remember to take it slowly for very young ones, it’s always best to practice in short frequent sessions for just a few minutes each time. Once the child has grasped playing it, they won’t want to stop!
Happy Birthday easy piano music
Download the sheet music here.
Find more easy sheet music like in our free resources!
Happy Birthday Easy Piano Music For Both Hands
This version is in the key of G major which has an F sharp (F#) .
If your child or pupil is new to reading music, take a look at this post on How to Read Music Made Easy.
Left Hand
1. First explain the key signature making sure the child is familiar with the F#. You could also play the scale of G major to help them understand the concept of different keys. Spend a little time finding the F# as well as spotting them in the music. Work out which finger plays them? Does the left hand have any? How many are there? There are only 2 in the right hand both times with 2nd finger.
2. Start with the left hand, since this likely to be the most challenging, singing the tune along as you play the chords. Find the hand position for the first G chord by identifying the bottom note and explaining that basic chords are made with fingers 5, 3 & 1, and the bottom note is the key note (tonic), in this case G. Now look ahead and count all of the G chords (there are a lot!). The chords are mostly played on the first beat of the bar on the syllables ‘birth’ and ‘you’.
3. After the first G chord, in the 2nd bar the left hand fingers 1 & 2 play C & D. This should sound slightly clashing as it is what’s called a dominant 7th. The same chord is repeated for the 3rd bar, then bars 4 & 5 are G chord again. On the 7th bar, the thumb 1 & 3 each have to move up one note to E and middle C as the words sing the name of the name of whose birthday it is. On the last ‘birthday’ the chords are G chord, C&D for one beat on ‘to’ and finally a last G chord on ‘You!’
4. Practise playing the left hand while singing along with the tune as this helps with the rhythm.
Right Hand
5. The right hand tune is much easier to work out as it is so familiar. Spend a little time identifying and naming the notes before you play anything. Recognise the distance between the notes where the tune jumps, whether it is a 4th 1 – 4 or 5th 1- 5 on ‘to you!’. Notice the octave leap on the 3rd ‘Happy birthday’ work it out each phrase by phrase before you attempt to play it all the way through.
6. Once the right hand is ready, you can play one hand each together as a duet, swapping over to make sure you practise both hands.
7. Only attempt both hands together when they can play each hand easily and feel ready to try. The first couple of times, it might be helpful to prompt them verbally when they should change the chord in the left hand, or which note comes next in the right hand. It is really important to take a slow tempo and keep a relaxed approach, making light of any mistakes – the most important thing is to have a go and have some fun!
And for the very young…
Try this delightful musical HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU book, where each cute character plays the tune on a different instrument until they all gather together at the end to sing Happy Birthday! A brilliant way to introduce the whole concept of birthdays, cakes and parties!
For more in-depth support for piano beginners check out my First Piano Lesson eBook and my How To Read Music Made Easy eBook.
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hi this really helped me with my song on the piano. keep up the lovley work !
This is a great way of proving your piano talents.
I love this website.
I have always wanted to play the piano with u I’m sure it will be easy!!!
This is great. I’m in my 30s and trying to learn to play piano again (only played for 2 years in elementary school) and teach my 6 year old. I love how the first image lays it out with left hand versus right hand (and fingers) playing the notes!
That’s great Lauren! I bet you and your daughter will have lots of fun learning the piano together!
My daughter had an accident and can’t use her left hand for a while. Anything ideas on what she can do to keep practice up?
Hi Heather,
Oh dear! I hope it doesn’t hurt too much!
Well, if the left hand is out of action you can of course make sure that the right hand get lots of practice to make up for it! But also you can take advantage of the injury time, by concentrating on left hand/bass clef note reading and naming. They can use the right hand for this purpose, or simply call out the notes.
You can spend some of the time, concentrating on memorising the right hand melody which will only be a help when the left hand is ready to play again.
Also you can make sure that they understand every musical term, note or sign on the page in the form of an impromptu theory quiz.
All of these steps should ensure that when the left hand is ready to play again, they will be ready to make good progress.
Good luck, and I hope it gets better soon! Sara
Omg my birthday is tomorrow yayyy 1 age up
This helped me learn in time for my dads birthday (tomorrow) and im only 9 thank you so much my dad will love it!
Well done Abi! I bet your dad will love it! What a lovely surprise for him! 🙂
my mums birthaday is in a week this was so helpful and im 9 to !
Practice hard Ellie! Your Mum will love it!!
it’s nearly my cousin and brothers birthday and HEAPS of people are coming and I know it off by heart thank you!!
That’s great Emily! What a lovely idea, I’m sure your family will be very impressed! 🙌
This helps me a lot I am only 9
THANK YOU SOOOO MUCH!
You’re welcome Emma! 🙂 And have fun with your piano playing!
I know it’s the best I really enjoyed happy birthday yesterday I didn’t even have a clue how to play the piano and now I’m good at it
Thanks a lot
Well done Evan! keep practicing and there’ll be no stopping you! 🙂
Last Friday was my dads birthday
Wow thanks you’re awesome and i play by my self for this thank you then i can play happy birhday for my mom and other birthday i play and dont see the note and i dit it thank for you
I’m glad you had fun playing Happy Birthday Lorraine! 🙂
I love to play piano I want to play melody with my piano
My whole family birthday is near, I still have 4 months learn
This a good one
Thank you
It’s good.
Thanks very . Was very helpful for me
Excellent!
I liked it very much
I played it. It is guud!!!!!!!!! (to pla)
😀 Glad you had fun with it!
I,really like it
T H A N K S
F O R
I T
You’re welcome Madiha 🙂
Thx I’ve just started and know I know happy birthday and good swell cause its my brothers birthday tomorrow.
It is very guuuuud
😀
❤❤
O
my mother is saying to learn happy birthday on keyboard because i know before and i will play on birthdays thats y
That is a good idea Lokesh! Have fun learning to play it 🙂
Me and my 6 year old brother just started piano, surprisingly, we are on the same level! Thanks for all the help,
xx Jelena ( the desperate 13 year old )
My granddaughter Harmony has just started playing the piano and this site is helpful to her learning. Thankyou
That’s great – so glad you found us! and we wish Harmony lots of fun with her piano playing in the future!
nice and easy to learn
It’s definitely a good early piece to learn!
good
Thank you for sharing this! It will be a great supplement to practice and lessons.
Thank you for stopping by the Thoughtful Spot Weekly Blog Hop this week. We hope to see you drop by our neck of the woods next week!
Thanks for stopping by Jill – and (as ever!!) thanks for hosting too!
Thanks for sharing this. My two oldest just started playing piano a couple months ago and will love being able to play Happy Birthday!
That is funny because I’m nine and nearly got the hang of it. This really helps me practise.