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

37 notes · C4–C7 · three octaves · 37 notes · The standard concert flute: the foot joint ends at middle C.

Tap a note, or slide along them to slur from note to note in one breath. On a keyboard the letters on the notes are the ones to press — Q is the D above middle C and they climb a semitone at a time.

FluteFree · printable · plays in your browser

Hot Cross Buns — Flute Notes

Hot Cross Buns, written out for the flute as letter notes with the fingering drawn under each one and set up above on the C foot. Press Play to hear it, Practice to learn it one note at a time — the flute waits for you — or Play along to keep time with it.

  • Notes17, 3 pitches
  • RangeG4–B4
  • Key hereG major
  • Tempo100 bpm · about 10 s
  • LevelEasy

Can a flute 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.

  • C foot✓ Plays as writtenIn G major, G4–B4 · loaded above
  • B foot✓ Plays as writtenIn G major, G4–B4 · load it

Hot Cross Buns: flute notes

The large line is the note, and the drawing is its fingering — a filled hole or key is one that is down. 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 — flute notes (C foot) · 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.

  • GG4×7
  • AA4×7
  • BB4×3

What to expect on a flute

  • It runs from G4 to B4, a major third, using 3 different notes. That leaves 7 semitones unused below and 25 above.
  • 94% of its moves are a step or a repeated note. The widest is a major third, G4 to B4, at note 4.
  • The whole tune is played on gentle air: the air speed never has to change.

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 flute

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

Playing it on a real flute?

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

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