Hot Cross Buns: how to play it on recorder, piano, and violin

“Hot Cross Buns” is a first tune on the recorder, the piano, and the violin. It uses three notes that sit side by side, and a child can learn it in one sitting. This page gives the notes for all three instruments.

Quick facts

• Notes: three, side by side
• Time signature: 4/4
• Length: four short lines
• New skill: stepping down from note to note, and repeating a note

The shape of the tune

The tune steps down three notes, and then does it again. Next it plays the lowest note four times and the middle note four times. Then it steps down once more.

In solfège, the three notes are mi, re, and do. Read solfège explained for parents.

On this page, a dash after a letter means “hold this note longer.”

On the recorder

B A G-, B A G-,

G G G G, A A A A,

B A G-

Note	Left thumb	Left-hand fingers
B	Covers the back hole	First
A	Covers the back hole	First and second
G	Covers the back hole	First, second, and third

The left hand goes on top. Start each note with the tongue, as if saying “doo.” Blow soft, warm air. A squeak means the air is too fast, or a finger has left a gap.

For more, read the recorder for kids and easy recorder songs with letter notes.

On the piano

E D C-, E D C-,

C C C C, D D D D,

E D C-

Put the right thumb on middle C. The thumb is finger 1, so C is finger 1, D is finger 2, and E is finger 3.

For the left hand, put the thumb on E. E is finger 1, D is finger 2, and C is finger 3.

The tune also fits the group of three black keys. Play the top one, the middle one, and the bottom one.

Read first piano songs for kids.

On the violin

On the A string, the three notes are C sharp, B, and A. Finger 2 plays C sharp, finger 1 plays B, and the open string is A. The numbers below are fingers, and 0 means the open string.

2 1 0-, 2 1 0-,

0 0 0 0, 1 1 1 1,

2 1 0-

The same fingers work on the D string and on the E string. Read first violin songs for kids.

The rhythm

Line	Rhythm	In rhythm words
1	Two short notes and one long note	ta, ta, ta-a
2	The same again	ta, ta, ta-a
3	Eight quick notes	ti-ti, ti-ti, ti-ti, ti-ti
4	Two short notes and one long note	ta, ta, ta-a

The short notes are quarter notes. The long notes are half notes. The quick notes are eighth notes. Read rhythm names explained for parents and note values explained.

How to learn it

1. Sing it. A child who can sing the tune will hear a wrong note at once.
2. Clap it. Clap the rhythm while saying the rhythm words.
3. Play line 1. It is three notes. Play it until it is easy.
4. Play line 3. It holds the quick notes, so it is the hardest line.
5. Join the lines. Play the whole tune three times a day for a week.

Where the song comes from

Hot cross buns are spiced buns with a cross on top, baked for Good Friday. Street sellers in England sang a cry to sell them, and the song grew from that cry. Versions of the cry were in print in the 1700s.

Make it harder

• Start on a new note. On the piano, start on B and play B, A, G. Then start on A and play A, G, F.
• Add the left hand. Play a low C under each line. Change to a low G under the four Ds.
• Change the speed and the volume. Play it slow and soft. Play it fast and loud. Read tempo words in music.
• Make up a new tune. Use the same three notes in a new order. Read how to compose a tune.

Things to do together

Echo. Play three notes. Your child plays them back.

Eyes closed. Your child plays the tune without looking at the fingers.

Duet. One player holds the lowest note. The other plays the tune.

Concert. Play it for someone who has not heard it yet.

Print and play

Print the piano keyboard chart and the note name flashcards. Write the tune on big staff paper. For the next tune, read Mary Had a Little Lamb on piano and recorder.