Piper's SongbookHow to play La Cucaracha on recorder
La Cucaracha (the chorus) uses 9 notes on the soprano recorder: B, A, G, high C, high D, F♯, low E, low D and high E. The first line goes D D D G B D D D G B G G F♯ F♯ E E D.
- Notes
- 9: B, A, G, high C, high D, F♯, low E, low D, high E
- Level
- Thumb pinch
- Time
- 3/4, about 132 beats a minute
- Source
- Traditional Spanish and Mexican folk song
La Cucaracha 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.
Line 1
Line 2
Letters only, for printing or copying
- D D D | G B D D D | G B | G G F♯ F♯ E E | D
- D D D | F♯ A D D D | F♯ A | D′ E′ D′ C′ B A | G
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 La Cucaracha
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
Each "la cu-ca-ra-cha" starts with three quick low Ds. Tongue them lightly with "doo doo doo", then lift your right-hand fingers in one movement for G. The last line runs down from high E: pinch the thumb for E only.
Learn one line at a time. Play it slowly until every note is clean, then join it to the next line.
About the tune
A folk song about a cockroach that can no longer walk. A Mexican novel of 1819 already mentions a tune called "La Cucaracha", and the song spread widely during the Mexican Revolution of the 1910s, when both sides made up new verses.
Questions
Is La Cucaracha easy on recorder?
It suits a player who already knows the notes from low D to high D. It also needs the thumb pinch for the high notes.
What notes do you need for La Cucaracha on recorder?
B, A, G, high C, high D, F♯, low E, low D and high E. Tap a note to see its fingering on its own page.
Do these fingerings work on a German recorder?
Mostly. F♯ is fingered differently on a German recorder; the diagrams above are Baroque, and the linked note pages show both. A recorder whose hole 4 is smaller than hole 5 is Baroque.
More recorder songs
Notes checked against the score on Wikipedia, compared with the Singing Bell note chart for the opening; transposed to G. Last checked 6 October 2026.