Happy Birthday triad exercise (Key of G)
Lesson #312 • Jul 23, 2020
Video lesson
Print-Friendly PDF 1 page
- I'm excited to offer the print-friendly PDF educational guide for this song for free! I have a few others available for free as well.
- If you enjoy this and want access to my entire library of 200+ educational PDFs, please consider supporting me on Patreon.com ($5/month, cancel anytime).
If you're a Patreon supporter, click here to get this PDF
Editor’s notes
Hey friends – here’s a quick lesson for playing “Happy Birthday” in an arrangement that leans heavily into triad chord shapes (mainly on the thinnest 3-4 strings). Chord-wise this mostly uses G and D – but we’ll be adding and removing certain fingers at various points in order to let the melody of this classic tune shine through with what you’re playing. And of course, these triads can be used in various circumstances in so many other songs and scenarios – so you’ll get a lot out of this one, beyond wishing someone a happy birthday. As always, tabs included in my chord sheet!
Timestamps:
- 0:00 Lesson overview
- 1:04 Chord progression, big picture
- 1:52 Chord shapes I’m using
- 4:57 Melody notes within the tab
- 5:48 Tab, measures 1-4
- 8:12 Tab, measures 5-8
- 9:31 Final advice & practice tips
Enjoy my lessons? Buy me a beer!
If this and my other lessons have proven helpful to you, please consider making a one-time donation to my tip jar. Contributions of any amount help make this project possible (including the many, many hours I put into it).
You can also support me on Patreon. For only $5/month you'll get access to a print-friendly PDF of my notes for each new lesson (view free sample).
Thanks!
Subscribe to my YouTube channel
Be sure to never miss a lesson by subscribing on YouTube. I put out 2-3 new videos every week. These include full song lessons, as well as covers, practice tips, behind-the-scenes updates. Thanks!
Recent video lessons:
📝 My "song" PDFs are now individually purcasheable! I've arranged a licensing agreement with Musicnotes, a service that lets you buy my sheet music arrangements. Patreon supporters get 50% off each purchase. Learn more here »
Aug 8, 2022
Alternating Bass Note Fun with "Don't Worry Be Happy"
Here's a few fun ways you can use alternating bass (and some optional percussive slaps) to play along with Bobby McFerrin's 1988 classic.
Aug 1, 2022
Beginner Blues Groove (Key of A-minor)
An easy-going bluesy sequence played over a 12 bar progression. I'll show how you add 2 distinctive notes to the bass lines of Am and Dm to really capture a blues vibe.
July 11, 2022
Updates to FretMonster (Interactive Fretboard Tool)
I've added some new features to FretMonster, the free web-based tool I created to help you navigate the guitar freboard. Select a key and scale, and it shows you a map of the matching notes. I've also added some new features I'll show you in this video.
July 6, 2022
Adding Melodic Licks & Fills to a Fingerstyle Groove (Key of G)
I'll show you how to take an easy-going fingerstyle sequence, and easily dress it up with melodic licks & fills — all coming from the G major scale.
June 22, 2022
How to Make Drum Tracks Using GarageBand's Beat Sequencer
A beginner's guide to using GarageBand's Beat Sequencer tool to create custom drum beats! Even if you're a total novice when it comes to drumming (like me), I'll walk you through the basic steps to create rich-sounding drum tracks to play over while practicing or performing.
May 27, 2022
Creating a Fingerstyle Arrangement of Tom Petty's "American Girl"
A few years after learning American Girl the way Tom Petty plays it, I returned to it — this time determined to work out a low-key, easy-going fingerstyle arrangement. Here's how it went!
Browse my all lessons
By lesson type
- Full Song Lessons
- Beginner Songs
- Backing Tracks
- Play-Along Covers
- Warm-Up Exercises
- Tips & Techniques
By song decade
By musical genre
By guitar technique
By musical key
By popular artist
- Johnny Cash
- Tyler Childers
- Tom Petty
- Neil Young
- Nirvana
- Lynyrd Skynyrd
- Willie Nelson
- John Denver
- Guns N' Roses