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left handright hand8vaDE♭Ff123G♯C♯BB♭ECB♭123E♭Cupper body · left handlower body · right hand8vaDE♭Ff123G♯C♯BB♭ECB♭123E♭C
B♭3sounds C♯3Low octave
SongsHot Cross Buns
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1 more song needs notes this instrument does not have. Changing the key brings some of them into reach.

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

32 notes · B♭3–F6 written · sounds C♯3–A♭5 · 32 notes · The E♭ alto: the saxophone almost everyone starts on, in school bands and jazz alike. Sounds a major sixth below the part.

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 written low B♭ and they climb a semitone at a time.

SaxophoneFree · printable · plays in your browser

Hot Cross Buns — Saxophone Notes

Hot Cross Buns, written out for the saxophone as letter notes with the fingering drawn under each one and set up above on the Alto. Press Play to hear it, Practice to learn it one note at a time — the saxophone 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 saxophone 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.

  • Alto✓ Plays as writtenIn C major, C4–E4 · loaded above
  • Tenor✓ Plays as writtenIn C major, C4–E4 · load it
  • Soprano✓ Plays as writtenIn C major, C4–E4 · load it
  • Baritone✓ Plays as writtenIn C major, C4–E4 · load it

The notes here are written pitch, which is what a saxophone player reads. On the Alto this sounds in E♭ major.

Hot Cross Buns: saxophone 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 — saxophone notes (Alto) · 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.

  • CC4×7
  • DD4×7
  • EE4×3

What to expect on a saxophone

  • It runs from C4 to E4, a major third, using 3 different notes. That leaves 2 semitones unused below and 25 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 stays below the break, so the octave key is never used.

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 saxophone

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

Playing it on a real saxophone?

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

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