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SongsHot Cross Buns
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2 more songs need notes this instrument does not have. Changing the tuning or capo brings some of them into reach.

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Traditional English street cry and nursery rhyme, 18th century. Public domain.

3 strings · D3–D6 · No capo · D · Today’s standard — Mixolydian from the open string, and the tuning every modern tab is written for.

Tap a string, or drag down across them to strum. On a keyboard the letters on the strings are the ones to press — they follow the strings, melody first.

DulcimerFree · printable · plays in your browser

Hot Cross Buns — Dulcimer Tab

Hot Cross Buns, written out for the dulcimer as fret numbers for the melody string and set up above on the DAD. Press Play to hear it, Practice to learn it one note at a time — the dulcimer waits for you — or Play along to keep time with it.

  • Notes17, 3 pitches
  • RangeD4–F♯4
  • Key hereD major
  • Tempo100 bpm · about 10 s
  • LevelEasy

Can a dulcimer 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.

  • DAD✓ Plays as writtenIn D major, D4–F♯4 · loaded above
  • DAA✓ Plays as writtenIn D major, D4–F♯4 · load it

Hot Cross Buns: dulcimer tab

The large line is the fret, on the melody string unless a string is named; the small line under it is the note. 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 — dulcimer tab (DAD) · 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.

  • 0D4×7
  • 1E4×7
  • 2F♯4×3

What to expect on a dulcimer

  • It runs from D4 to F♯4, a major third, using 3 different notes. That leaves 12 semitones unused below and 20 above.
  • 94% of its moves are a step or a repeated note. The widest is a major third, D4 to F♯4, at note 4.
  • It uses 3 fret positions: 0, 1, 2.
  • The whole tune is on the melody string, so it can be played with a noter while the other strings drone.

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 dulcimer

All 35 dulcimer songs · Christmas songs for dulcimer · The online dulcimer on its own

Playing it on a real dulcimer?

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

🎙 Open the Dulcimer Tuner