How to play happy birthday to you - Video

Play Happy Birthday to You (pitch, rhythm)

Everyone knows how to sing Happy Birthday but not everyone can play it! It's perfectly possible for children of this age to learn it by rote if they have help and practice. The easiest way is like a cascade; you learn to play it first (scroll down for help) then teach it to a group of children, who teach it to the other children. Teaching others is a great way to consolidate learning. The children can learn to play this on a keyboard, a piano or on an iPad using Garage Band.

Garage Band is a free app that comes as standard with up-to-date iPads. There are a number of versions depending on your last update so it's best to experiment before helping children to use it (it truth, they will probably be helping you!) When you open it up, you'll see all the instruments that you could use. The best setting for learning to play a tune is Classical Grand Piano, as shown here:

How to play Happy Birthday to You

Please don't write the letter names on the keys (the ones here are superimposed onto a picture) - it prevents anyone from remembering them in the easiest way, which is by looking for the patterns of two and three black keys - eg C is the key just to the left of the pair of black keys.

The easiest way (trust me on this) is to learn to play the tune without having the notes written down. Otherwise you'll always be looking at the bit of paper with the notes written on it and you'll never remember how to play it without them. Remember the order of the notes by the patterns they make when you play.

Oh go on then ... I know you're busy and you'll want the notes to start with, so here they are, beginning on the lowest G on the left. Don't write them out for the children though!

• G G A G C B
• G G A G D C
• G G ^G E C B A (^G means high G)
• F F E C D C