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In my deep dive “Happy Birthday” play-along workshop we will develop progressively more sophisticated arrangements of this infamous song, primarily in the keys of C and G. We’ll start by singing and strumming simple chord accompianment. Then we’ll play the basic melody using a single string, then two strings, and then three strings.

Gradually we’ll develop more sophisticated versions using moveable scale patterns and chord shapes that will allow us to play up and down the neck, culminating in an arragement that intertwines the melody with the chord progression.

Along the way we’ll walk our fingers briefly through some basic music theory concepts as they apply to the tune. These valuable building blocks include half and whole steps; tetra chords and diatonic scales; major chords, first inversions, and second inversions; the miraculous I IV V chord progression; and multiple moveable chord fingering shapes that can provide options for the voicing of the chords.

If there are times when you aren’t quite able to keep up with the pace you may decide to just strum along with the chords, or practice the simpler versions of the melody. If you hang in there you’ll get to observe a process that can be used to work up your own arrangements for other songs.

A PDF with helpful music, chord charts, tabs, and excercizes will be attached to the email that invites you to the Zoom workshop.

You will be muted, so no-one will hear you playing or singing. There will be opportunites for participants to temporarily unmute and ask questions, give feedback, etc.