Learn "Happy Birthday" on Guitar in 5 Minutes - Easy Chords & Strumming

Your choice of chords, depending on which you're most comfortable with:
G, C and D
OR
A, D and E
► Tabs and Chord Sheets for this lesson available on my Patreon page: / 37722408
TABLE OF CONTENTS
0:00 - INTRO
0:19 - STRUMMING PATTERN
0:51 - USING G, C, D chords
2:39 - USING A, D, E chords
Now this lesson goes pretty quick (in case the party's about to get started!) So, if you find that it's going too fast for you, or you need extra help, I have a bunch of resources designed to help you.
For help with a song like this, I recommend my Complete Beginner's Course. You can find it (and more courses, covering a ton of material) here: courses.goodguitarist.com/
And don't forget to grab your copy of my FREE eBook: goodguitarist.com/learn-rhyth...
The song's in 3/4 time, meaning we have to count up to three over and over. Our strumming pattern reflects that: We do a downstroke on beat 1, down-up on beat 2, and a down-up on beat 3.
The chord order is so simple, it's just eight measures. We work through the song, bit-by-bit and then glue it all together. Then we do the exact same thing for the key of A (using A, D and E chords) and that's it!
I've kept this one short and sweet so you can get back to the party.
See you next time!
-James
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goodguitarist.com/learn-happy-...
/ goodguitarist
#happybirthday #traditional #guitartutorial

[@Good_Guitarist]

💻 Check out James' Guitar Course To Learn Guitar Once-And-For-All: goodguitarist.com/beginner-guitar-course/

[@sanjaymathur9676]

Thanks

[@udayanmustafi3963]

Thanks sir for this awesome tutorial..

[@jennybracho8659]

Thank you

[@nazriel5343]

Thank you

[@The.gospel.of_JesusChrist]

I love it ❤

[@tangomike15]

You are the tutor I need. My beautiful wife just bought me a guitar for my birthday a few days ago and I want to play this for her birthday next week. Hope I can get it together by then. Thank you for your selflessness.

[@Good_Guitarist]

Rock on!

[@chuckielee2627]

The best ever tutorial and breakdown of the song. The Chords and the Words that’s sung on each Beat count is very helpful and important for music learners. Almost all other so-called music gurus on TH-cam forget these basic fundamentals.

[@gabrielabarboza82]

yes 👍🤓😬it is the first one i actully understud

[@kimsara3388]

Is it fine for acoustic guitar?

[@ZolaBolingo]

Great Guitar Lesson.
Thank you for sharing

[@nishikapanda9933]

Thnx sir my friend's birthday is coming up this week and I had to learn this song on a guitar this is really helpful

[@SoVidushi]

Thankyou!! I am writing a song for a friend's birthday and the chorus is in the tune of the birthday song, this was very helpful :)

[@llov1464]

Thx for this tutorial, am gonna play n sing this 4 my husband s birthday tonight 😀
N by z way, thanks 4 ur tutorials, very helpful 🎸🎶👍

[@sijaniebalraadjsing5087]

Thank you for explantion. Your explantion is clear. Finally after 2 years i can understand even though i'am already on lessons.
Thank you very much🎸🎸🎸❤

[@MsHabib2007]

the best start for every beginner is with great teacher's channal!!!😊👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍

[@claritejade6171]

You teach very well, I’m really bad with the guitar and I was able to play this.
Thank you
I’m very happy

[@amarjeetbains4250]

Yaaay! Thank u soooo much! I am gonna play this on my sister's birthday! My first ever try! My strumming is a little different- D DU UDU.. though... But it's fun! ❤️ Thanks a ton! 😊

[@ngungamkonyak6181]

Thank you for this💓💓 .. I'm gonna sing this for my Dear on his Birthday 🤗👊

[@catman3321]

Thank you very much my mom always wanted for me to learn to play the guitar i got a month to practice for her birthday. Wish me luck.

[@michaeldeiters2723]

thanks , keep it coming James

[@Good_Guitarist]

hello Michael, I will! Thanks! We are still going strong at Good Guitarist thanks to people like yourself!

[@dharmendrathacker165]

Oh James, thank you very much. You made the stuff very easy for me to learn and play.

[@Good_Guitarist]

You're very welcome!

[@babydaby5812]

Dear Sir. Am from Mauritius. Just a beginner in guitar and am learning from you. You are a very very good teacher. You have a nice voice....shall try to play Happy Birthday. Thanks. Take care. Regards.

[@sniperviper2697]

Awesome guitarist.
I learned from you. Thanks

[@glorysportsandmore5520]

James keep smiling always 🙌

[@theburritomonkey9900]

My Girlfriend's birthday is coming up and I've wanted to play something for her for awhile now. Now I got the perfect song to play on her birthday, thank you!!

[@Good_Guitarist]

Hey, let me know how it goes, when is her birthday?

[@kimsara3388]

Is it fine for acoustic guitar?

[@santiagogarzonsilva8784]

En definitiva, tuve que buscarlo en inglés porque en español no hay un contenido aceptable para esta canción tan popular. Qué bien explicado está, I thank you for the best video of this song!

[@micahjames5316]

Thank you so much for this video. I really like it. 😊👍

[@fisherman7633]

Thanks so much for sharing and teaching us. God bless.

[@Good_Guitarist]

You are so welcome

[@FRCaday]

the tutorial was helpful ❤

[@temiongcecilio]

Thanks very much !! First time to learn how to play Happy Birthday song. Liked & Subscribed. God bless.

[@AdityaKumar-bk7eu]

I'm in middle of my pre boards and I've got a VERY IMPORTANT b'day coming up on 12th Nov which is the same day my exams end.
This is my first time singing while playing so I can't cordinate much and even my chord shifts are not that refined.
Had no idea such a tutorial might exist so didn't search early!
But I NEED to crack this in a day!

[@Pomegranate71]

How did it go? Hope everything went as planned!

[@amuservlog4561]

I am learning, thanks for this heLpful tutorial as a beginner.

[@Wiwb411]

Awesome video thanks!

[@osiro_music3373]

Thank you You I'll Perform it
On Sunday

[@breabe9]

Thank you so much You helped me a lot

[@arseniodgollacion4426]

Thanks to this video clip, it was a very nice and easy way to learn a lot.

[@kimsara3388]

Is it fine for acoustic guitar?

[@brie226]

Tysm this is amazing and so we'll explained. For guitar tutorials I usually come to you. 👏

[@Good_Guitarist]

Awesome, thank you!

[@babydaby5812]

Dear Sir Am from Mauritius Am a beginner in guitar. Learning from you. Nice course not difficult. Thanks you. Please make other video. Regds.

[@molliethielemann4704]

This is for me to sing my dad for his birthday thank you

[@hkky2024]

Thank sir,
I subscribed your channel right now
And I will learn ☺️☺️

[@aryasingh5614]

awesome!
tomorrow is my sister's b'day
i'll surprise her from this ❤️

[@EthanAug]

This was very easy
I learnt it in a day

[@elixerboy3967]

thx man u helped ,now i know how to play happy birthday for my mom in her birthday

[@jennybracho8659]

hello thanks.for.your sharing I had watching and following you.thank you

[@scarlett4678]

Thank you!😍😍🥰🥰😘

[@carlosonliones202]

Many thanks James! I just need help with the cake!

[@hgdhklugfcsd]

Thank you!

[@Ashishsharma123]

Thank you brother

[@jai2760]

Thank you Brother.

[@TIliMilIT]

this is how to teach a newbie for good, thanks mate

[@narkyzabdielgamad8143]

You read my mind

[@rosajoaquin4532]

Excellent!

[@ohhabby5314]

Great job! 🎉so easy to learn

[@Good_Guitarist]

Thanks, many people are learning it in a pinch. Who did you play this for?

[@payalseal7323]

The strumming pattern🔥....it took me 15 mins to adjust🙄😂

[@NikhilSethi]

Super helpful. Thanks!

[@Good_Guitarist]

Glad it was helpful!

[@traciefinan]

Thank you so much !🎉🎉🎉🎂💕🥰

[@Good_Guitarist]

You are so welcome

[@Libe-cx8jr]

Thank u soso much

[@bric6498]

so simple thank you so much

[@Good_Guitarist]

You're welcome!

[@1989livewire]

Thanks man.. Easiest tutorial ever..

[@Good_Guitarist]

You're welcome!

[@michelleoh8436]

Thank you

[@wilikeitworld190]

thanks man

[@nunayah3016]

Very and very good

[@gauravpdaksh]

excellent video

[@anethg4989]

I think the strumming pattern does the whole trick😭😭😭

[@nishikapanda9933]

Ya

[@yuka_xkendouri]

Yes, I know it’s easy but I suck at strumming

[@drawing_comix992]

Ikr 😂

[@akashkhokhar91]

Thnku so much sir g 🙏

[@saniaaslam435]

You are awesome 😁

[@elaboussimourad7245]

Thanks so much!

[@Good_Guitarist]

You're welcome!

[@halrogers401]

Terrific instruction (as always), James, but I haven't been able to find the link for your chord chart.

[@gdsharma222]

Very nice description

[@kimsara3388]

Is it fine for acoustic guitar?

[@janenerilagnas]

thank you very much

[@LayhoutLao]

2:00 time stamp for anyone who wanna practice the whole thing

[@milixer1]

Iam trying to learn how to sing and play at the same time, this actually a nice stepping stone. I tried songs that are more difficult but I can play on gituar but when I trie to sing while playing it feels like something is preventing me from actually doing it. buy starting with this I think I can do it.

[@JomarAndrade0126]

Thank You bro👍 super cool😎👍

[@Good_Guitarist]

No problem 👍

[@thesetwoweirdos1834]

thank you :)

[@anneshan34]

Thanks for sharing

[@Good_Guitarist]

Thanks for watching!

[@andreipascua3275]

I love it thank you

[@Good_Guitarist]

You're welcome 😊

[@rogersurian4516]

Thank you very much....

[@analynjandoc5653]

Thank you God Bless

[@Good_Guitarist]

Thank you too

[@MyGuitarJourney]

Thanks so much for so generously sharing your knowledge. I have one day to pick this up for my wife's birthday!! Quick question though: at 0:51 when you demo the GCD chord, I noticed a nuance in your strumming pattern - on the beat 1 I can only hear the base note - are you plucking just the root note on the first beat rather than the entire chord? Thanks again.

[@Good_Guitarist]

Yes I am. After a while, once you get used to strumming, it's easy to add "dynamics" by playing just a string or two of the chord on certain beats.

[@Cambr420]

Can you do jolene or little lion man, pls? :)

[@ariannemhelled.sumensin5201]

😄😄😄thank you teacher

[@unidentifiable1875]

Thank you very much kind sir!

[@freenectar2262]

Thank you Sir! much appreaciatd. was trying to follow what finders you use to strum, it appears only using index finger?... or what finders suggest for best output? thanks again.

[@Good_Guitarist]

Here's a lesson where I teach how to strum without a pick: th-cam.com/video/a4MZCpvLUlU/w-d-xo.html

[@jasonangel12]

Sir u r too good

[@stephaneariyain4582]

Merci

[@ArunKumar-fq5wx]

Please give the link of your guitar books

[@joeamendola5961]

thats very nice what else do you have thank you

[@yagami6626]

Good video😊👌👌

[@tripsyy3091]

You teach so perfectly🧔🧔🧔🧔

[@gdsharma222]

Great👍

[@9konohadark755]

thank you, today is my friend's birthday. So, i can sing it to her

[@Good_Guitarist]

🎉

[@babujohn9363]

Very nice

[@Good_Guitarist]

Thanks

[@aaruna5738]

Can you tell me where can we found e book

[@shaundsouza5563]

Nice

[@nayjet5039]

Thanks

[@Good_Guitarist]

Welcome

[@Umang4Music]

❤

[@joetroutt7425]

When you just had a birthday and you have to click on this video to have it sung to you. 🎂

[@magicservice7772]

St what tempo or bpm are you playing this song .. ?

[@leswhite3524]

Why did you cover up the Crafter logo on your headstock? I chose your video because you had the prettiest guitar. I'll betcha a dime to a dollar that at one point Crafter made Alvarezes. That bridge is a giveaway. Must be at least a 20 year old guitar. Anyway, thanks. I have a birthday gig today and I've never played this LOL

[@laniebart4795]

THANK YOU! You're so cool!

[@himanipuri6924]

Am trying to play full strumming pattern on every chord . But it is not sounding like in video. Please tell me am I doing correct? I am playing complete strumming pattern before switching to next chord.

[@adwita9592]

Good

[@palkinsaini4192]

A
E
E
A
A
D
E
A

[@randomkidwhowatchsmemes4214]

thank you vm

[@Good_Guitarist]

No problem

[@kimsara3388]

Is it fine for acoustic guitar?

[@Good_Guitarist]

definitely!

[@kimsara3388]

@@Good_Guitarist then why it doesn’t work with mine I tried really hard I couldn’t :(

[@_Shahid_Official_]

❤❤❤❤❤❤❤