How do you play Hot Cross Buns on the piano?

Hot Cross Buns piano notes

Hot Cross Buns uses only three keys: C, D and E, next to each other at middle C. The notes are E D C, E D C, then C C C C D D D D, and E D C again. Put your thumb on C, your second finger on D and your third finger on E.

Play it on the virtual piano

The notes, line by line

Each line shows the letters to play, then each key with its octave: C4 is middle C. The box under a key is the computer key that plays it on the virtual piano.

Hot cross buns, hot cross buns
E D C E D C
E4ED4WC4QE4ED4WC4Q
One a penny, two a penny, hot cross buns
C C C C D D D D E D C
C4QC4QC4QC4QD4WD4WD4WD4WE4ED4WC4Q

How to play it

Put your right thumb on middle C, your second finger on D and your third finger on E.
Play E D C with fingers 3, 2 and 1, then play it again.
For "one a penny, two a penny", play C four times with your thumb, then D four times with your second finger. These notes are twice as fast.
End with E D C, and hold the last C a little longer.

Fingers have numbers: 1 is the thumb, 2 the index finger, 3 the middle finger, 4 the ring finger and 5 the little finger. In the virtual piano, press Listen to hear the rhythm first, and pick a slower speed while you learn.

Key facts

Level	Easy
Notes in the melody	17
Keys	3: C4 D4 E4
Black keys	None
Lowest and highest note	C4 – E4
First note	E4
Melody by	Traditional

The notes in do re mi

In fixed do, C is always Do, as in Spanish, French and Italian.

Mi Re Do Mi Re Do
Do Do Do Do Re Re Re Re Mi Re Do

About the song

Hot Cross Buns began as a street cry. In London, sellers sang it on Good Friday to sell the spiced buns with a cross on top, and an almanac printed the London cry in 1733.

Later it became a nursery rhyme. Music teachers often give it to children as a first song on a new instrument, because three notes next to each other are enough.

Questions

What are the three notes of Hot Cross Buns?

C, D and E: the three white keys from middle C up. The song starts on E and walks down to C.

Is Hot Cross Buns the easiest song on the piano?

It is one of the easiest. It has 17 notes on three keys, and your hand never moves. Mary Had a Little Lamb is a good next song: it adds one more key, G.