How to play Hot Cross Buns on recorder

Hot Cross Buns recorder notes with letters

Each box is one note, with its fingering underneath: filled holes are covered, a half-filled hole is half covered or pinched. Wider boxes are longer notes. A ′ mark means the higher octave, so D′ is high D. Bar lines are drawn as thin rules.

Sheet music

Written pitch for soprano recorder, which sounds an octave higher. Press play to hear it on a recorder sound; the slow setting plays at 60% speed.

Fingerings for the notes in Hot Cross Buns

Hole 0 is the thumb hole on the back. Holes 1 to 3 are for the left hand, 4 to 7 for the right. These are Baroque (English) fingerings.

How to practise it

Start each note with a soft "doo" so the notes are separate. In the second line the quick Gs and As are half a beat each: say "one-a-pen-ny" as you play them.

Learn one line at a time. Play it slowly until every note is clean, then join it to the next line.

About the tune

London street sellers sang this cry on Good Friday to sell spiced buns; the words were printed in Poor Robin's Almanack for 1733. It is the first tune in Piper's Songbook and in many recorder method books, because it needs only B, A and G.

Questions

Is Hot Cross Buns easy on recorder?

Yes. It uses only B, A and G, the first three notes most players learn, all with the left hand.

What notes do you need for Hot Cross Buns on recorder?

B, A and G. Tap a note to see its fingering on its own page.

Do these fingerings work on a German recorder?

Yes. Every note in Hot Cross Buns uses the same fingering on Baroque and German recorders.

More recorder songs

See all 103 songs, sorted from easiest