Piano chords · Slow dance ’50s
Happy, Happy Birthday Baby: easy piano accompaniment in letter notes
Written by Margo Sylvia & Gilbert Lopez
- Eb major
- 12/8
- 99 BPM
- 1956
- Medium
Play the full song with sheet music
The accompaniment with every note named, bar by bar: the bar sheet shows each note as a bar on the staff with its letter inside, so you can accompany Happy, Happy Birthday Baby without reading music. The left hand plays slow-dance heartbeat (root bass · 1 · 2 · 3 · 4 (12/8)) and the right hand doo-wop chords.
Happy, Happy Birthday Baby accompaniment in letter notes
The Bb – Fm – Bb7 – Eb loop with slow-dance heartbeat in the left hand and doo-wop chords in the right. Notes struck together are joined with a plus; C4 is middle C.
How to read the bar sheet
The player above shows the treble staff (right hand) over the bass staff (left hand). Every note is a bar as long as it sounds, at its place on the staff, with its name inside, and the music scrolls past a line that marks now. The chord names run along the top.
Start with the left hand alone at a slow speed, then the right, then both. When the letters feel easy, try the sheet music.
Questions about Happy, Happy Birthday Baby
What are the letter notes for the Happy, Happy Birthday Baby piano accompaniment?
Bar by bar, both hands: the bar sheet on this page names every note of the accompaniment (C4 is middle C) and plays along. The loop is Bb – Fm – Bb7 – Eb, so the letters repeat with the chords.
What chords are in Happy, Happy Birthday Baby?
The loop is Bb – Fm – Bb7 – Eb (V – ii – V7 – I) in Eb major, and the song ends on Ab – Bb – Eb.
What key is Happy, Happy Birthday Baby in?
Eb major, at about 99 beats a minute in 12/8.
What does the left hand play in Happy, Happy Birthday Baby?
Slow-dance heartbeat: root bass · 1 · 2 · 3 · 4 (12/8), an easy pattern. It follows the chords, so the same shape works for every bar.
Is Happy, Happy Birthday Baby easy to play on piano?
It is a medium one: learn the 4 chords as blocks first, then add the left hand, then the right, slowly.
Made from 2 arrangements of this song: the left and right hands are the patterns these scores repeat most.