How to Play Happy Birthday on Ukulele

Being a ukulele player, sooner or later you will be asked to play Happy Birthday for someone. The cake gets carried into the room, everyone turns to you and you have about four seconds to remember how it goes. This little quick guide makes sure you are ready: the chords, the melody as a tab and a trick to make it singable for any crowd. Ten minutes of practice, a lifetime of party credibility.

What chords do you need for Happy Birthday?

Three easy chords are all you need. Here on UkuTabs I have the sheet in D, so you need D, G and A:

The song is a waltz, so count one-two-three instead of the usual one-two-three-four. One relaxed down-strum per count is all it needs, honestly. Change chords on the strong words and let everyone’s singing carry the rest. The song page has the full lyrics with the chords in exactly the right spots, plus diagrams, a tab version and auto-scroll.

Brand new to these chord diagrams? Learn them properly in the basic chords guide first, it takes an evening.

How do you play the Happy Birthday melody?

This is the party trick version: the actual tune, picked note for note, straight from the tab on the UkuTabs sheet. The melody rides the A and g strings while a few open strings ring along underneath to fill out the sound. Numbers are frets, 0 is an open string, read left to right, one bar per phrase of the song:

A|-----------0-----------3---2---|-----------0-----------5---3---|
E|-----------0-------------------|-----------1-------------------|
C|-----------0-------------------|-----------0-------------------|
g|--0----0---0------0------------|--0----0---2------0------------|
    Hap- py  birth- day  to  you    Hap- py  birth- day  to  you

A|-----------10-----7---------2---0--|--8----8---7------3----5---3---|
E|-----------0----------------1------|-----------0---------------0---|
C|-----------0----------------0------|-----------0---------------0---|
g|--0----0---0-----------5----0------|-----------0---------------0---|
    Hap- py  birth- day  dear (name)   Hap-  py  birth- day  to  you

Take it slow and let everything ring. The jump to the 10th fret in the third bar is the big “BIRTH-day” moment, aim for it with your pinky and you will land it after a few tries. If reading this feels new, my how to read ukulele tabs guide explains every symbol.

One note for low-G players: the open g notes will sound an octave lower than written. It still works, it just sounds a little more mellow.

What if the key does not fit the singers?

Here is the secret nobody tells you: nobody sings Happy Birthday in a fixed key anyway. Whoever starts, starts, and everyone else follows. Two ways to be ready for that:

1. Open the song page and use the transposer to shift the whole song to any key with one click, the chord diagrams update automatically.
2. Or play the first chord yourself and hum the starting note before everyone joins. If you start, they follow your key, problem solved.

Which strum should you use?

Simplest that works: one down-strum on each beat of the waltz, slightly heavier on the one. Want it to sound a touch fancier? Try down on one, then two lighter downs, like a little oom-pah-pah. Whatever you do, keep it steady and quiet enough that the singing stays the star. For more feel and patterns, the ultimate strumming guide has you covered.

Frequently asked questions

Now go practice it once or twice and next time the cake comes out, you are not the person mouthing the words. You are the one with the ukulele. For more easy wins after the party, browse the easy ukulele songs or grab the Top 10 Kids Songs if little ones are involved.