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SongsHot Cross Buns
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  1. 3
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Traditional English street cry and nursery rhyme, 18th century. Public domain.

41 keys · F3–A6 · 41 keys · The standard piano accordion: a 41-key keyboard, the same notes push or pull.

Tap a key, or slide along them to run from note to note on one breath of the bellows. On a keyboard the letters on the keys are the ones to press — A to ' are middle C up to F like a piano's white keys, W E T Y U O P the black ones; Z to / are ten bass notes and 1 to 0 their major chords (Shift for counterbass and minor); Space turns the bellows.

AccordionFree · printable · plays in your browser

Hot Cross Buns — Accordion Letter Notes

Hot Cross Buns, written out for the accordion as letter notes, phrase by phrase and set up above on the Piano keys. Press Play to hear it, Practice to learn it one note at a time — the accordion waits for you — or Play along to keep time with it.

  • Notes17, 3 pitches
  • RangeC4–E4
  • Key hereC major
  • Tempo100 bpm · about 10 s
  • LevelEasy

Can a accordion play Hot Cross Buns?

Yes — every one on this page plays it. The check is made note by note against what each one can actually sound. Where the tune does not fit as the library writes it, another key or octave is tried, and the table says which; where nothing fits, it names the notes that are missing.

  • Piano keys✓ Plays as writtenIn C major, C4–E4 · loaded above
  • Buttons · C-system✓ Plays as writtenIn C major, C4–E4 · load it
  • Buttons · B-system✓ Plays as writtenIn C major, C4–E4 · load it
  • Diatonic · one row✓ Plays as writtenIn C major, C4–E4 · load it

Hot Cross Buns: accordion letter notes

The large line is the note; the small line under it is its number in the scale. A dash holds the note another beat, an underline is half a beat, and a dot beside a note makes it half as long again. Each line is one phrase.

▶ Play it above

Hot Cross Buns — accordion letter notes (Piano keys) · tonalics.com

The 3 notes it uses

Lowest to highest, with how many times each is played. Learn these 3 and you can play the whole tune.

  • C1×7
  • D2×7
  • E3×3

What to expect on a accordion

  • It runs from C4 to E4, a major third, using 3 different notes. That leaves 7 semitones unused below and 29 above.
  • 94% of its moves are a step or a repeated note. The widest is a major third, C4 to E4, at note 4.

About the tune

Hot Cross Buns began as a street cry: the call of London bakers selling spiced buns on Good Friday. It was in print as a rhyme by the end of the 18th century, and the tune it settled on is about as small as a tune can be — three neighbouring notes, most of it a single falling step repeated.

Traditional English street cry and nursery rhyme, 18th century. Public domain. More about Hot Cross Buns →

Hot Cross Buns on other instruments

The same melody, in each instrument’s own notation.

More songs for the accordion

All 36 accordion songs · Christmas songs for accordion · The online accordion on its own

Playing it on a real accordion?

If it sounds wrong, check the instrument before the notes. The accordion tuner listens through your microphone and names what each note is actually sounding.

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