106.159Conceptual application to “Happy Birthday”

Use the public-domain melody and deliberately reharmonize from bass only.

Version 1:

simple roots.

Version 2:

stepwise inversion bass.

Version 3:

chromatic approach into phrase cadences.

Version 4:

tonic pedal first phrase, more active bass later.

The melody remains fixed.

Observe how much emotional/formal character the bass alone changes.