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Hot Cross Buns

Hot Cross Buns is the easiest tune in Octotune's library: three notes, E, D and C, played by right-hand fingers 3, 2 and 1 from middle C, in quarter and half notes.

Play it in Octotune

The opening, as the app engraves it: E4, D4, C4

The melody in letters

Bar by bar, as the app’s melody version has it; the small numbers are the fingers.

  1. Bar 1E3D2C1
  2. Bar 2E3D2C1
  3. Bar 3C1C1C1C1
  4. Bar 4D2D2D2D2
  5. Bar 5E3D2C1

At a glance

ComposerTraditional
DifficultyFirst pieces: grades 1–2 of 8
KeyC major (no sharps or flats)
Time4/4
Tempo100 quarter-note beats a minute, as the app starts it (it can go slower)
Length5 bars, about 12 seconds
Handsone hand or both, by version
Left handF3 to A3
On the pathUnit 1, Middle C, D and E, Unit 3, Down to bass F, Kids, F and G, and the staff, Kids, Down to bass F, left hand, Kids, Two hands

It reaches past the staff: see ledger lines explained.

Versions in the app

VersionGradeLevels
Hot Cross Buns — melody1 of 8Full
Hot Cross Buns — with bass2 of 8Melody, Full
Hot Cross Buns — left hand1 of 8Melody, Melody and bass, Full

Practice notes

Hot Cross Buns is the usual first tune on the piano, and for good reason: it uses only three keys, E, D and C, next to each other just above middle C. Put your right thumb on middle C; then finger 2 is D and finger 3 is E, and the hand never moves.

The tune goes E D C twice, then C C C C, D D D D, then E D C to finish. In Octotune's arrangement, "one a penny, two a penny" is written as four quarter notes on C and four on D, rather than the quicker eighths often sung, so every note is a quarter or a half.

The one tricky bit is the switch from four Cs to four Ds: keep the count steady and don't rush the change. Hold each half-note C for two full counts.

Practice plan. Play it once with Watch and listen. Then Wait for me, eyes on the page, not the keys. Say "down, down" for E D C. When it's easy, try the version with bass: the left hand holds a long C (and one G) below.

In the path: it is the first song of Unit 1 for grown-ups, and the first tune of the Kids path, read first on coloured circles (yellow, orange, red) and then on the staff. A left-hand version, moved down to A G F, comes in Unit 3.

Questions

What are the piano notes for Hot Cross Buns?

E D C, E D C; C C C C, D D D D; E D C. Right thumb on middle C: E is finger 3, D finger 2, C finger 1.

Credits and licence

The Octotune team · Updated