- Notes17, 3 pitches
- RangeC4–E4
- Key hereC major
- Tempo100 bpm · about 10 s
- LevelEasy
Can a handpan 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.
- D Kurd✓ Plays as writtenIn C major, C4–E4 · loaded above
- D Celtic Minor✓ Plays as writtenIn C major, C4–E4 · load it
- D Hijaz↕ Plays, movedPlayed an octave higher: F major, F4–A4 · load it
- E Amara✓ Plays as writtenIn D major, D4–F♯4 · load it
- E Equinox✓ Plays as writtenIn C major, C4–E4 · load it
Hot Cross Buns: handpan tabs
The large line is the tone field, numbered from the lowest; 0 is the ding; the small line under it is its 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.
Hot Cross Buns — handpan tabs (D Kurd) · 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.
- 3C4×7
- 4D4×7
- 5E4×3
What to expect on a handpan
- It runs from C4 to E4, a major third, using 3 different notes. That leaves 10 semitones unused below and 5 above.
- 94% of its moves are a step or a repeated note. The widest is a major third, C4 to E4, at note 4.
- It uses 3 tone fields of this scale’s 8: 3, 4, 5.
- 10 notes fall to the left hand and 7 to the right.
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.
- Hot Cross Buns — kalimba
- Hot Cross Buns — piano
- Hot Cross Buns — mbira
- Hot Cross Buns — guzheng
- Hot Cross Buns — oud
- Hot Cross Buns — violin
- Hot Cross Buns — cello
- Hot Cross Buns — erhu
- Hot Cross Buns — dulcimer
- Hot Cross Buns — xylophone
- Hot Cross Buns — marimba
- Hot Cross Buns — glockenspiel
- Hot Cross Buns — steel drum
- Hot Cross Buns — ocarina
- Hot Cross Buns — harmonica
- Hot Cross Buns — trumpet
- Hot Cross Buns — clarinet
- Hot Cross Buns — saxophone
- Hot Cross Buns — flute
- Hot Cross Buns — recorder
- Hot Cross Buns — tuba
- Hot Cross Buns — euphonium
- Hot Cross Buns — trombone
- Hot Cross Buns — accordion
- Hot Cross Buns — harp
- Hot Cross Buns — lyre