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Christmas piano sheet music · Kids
Ho, Ho, Ho! (to the tune of Hot Cross Buns)
Free Christmas piano music for kids: 8 bars, right hand only. Put your thumb on middle C and one finger on each key; the number above each note is the finger, the letter under it is the key. Press Play to hear how it goes, press Slower to follow along, and print it for the music stand.
Where your hand goes
Find middle C: the white key just to the left of the two black keys nearest the middle of the piano. Put your right thumb on it and rest one finger on each white key going up, so your fingers 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 sit on C, D, E, F and G.
This piece uses 3 notes: C, D, E. In the music, the number above each note tells you the finger and the letter under it tells you the key. Your hand never has to move.
About this arrangement
A first Christmas song with only three notes. Put your right thumb on middle C (the white key just to the left of the two black keys in the middle of the piano), then finger 2 on D and finger 3 on E. “Ho, ho, ho!” steps down E, D, C. Count a steady four in every bar: E and D get two counts each, and the long C gets all four. On “jin-gle, jan-gle, here comes San-ta” every note gets one count. It is the tune of Hot Cross Buns, written in longer notes so nothing goes faster than one count.
Practice tip: Clap and say the words before you play. Make each “ho, ho, ho” big and slow, like Santa laughing, then let “jin-gle, jan-gle, here comes San-ta” trot along, one count for every note. Grown-ups: count “1, 2, 3, 4” out loud with them.
The words
Ho, ho, ho! Ho, ho, ho! Jingle, jangle, here comes Santa, ho, ho, ho!
A short history
The tune is Hot Cross Buns, an old London street cry. Sellers sang it in the streets on Good Friday, when spiced buns marked with a cross were sold, and it is written down in Poor Robin’s Almanack for 1733. Words close to the ones we know were printed as a round in the London Chronicle in 1767.
Because it uses just three neighbouring notes and a very simple rhythm, it has been a first tune on the recorder, the violin and the piano for generations.
The Christmas words here are new, written by Digital Greenhouse in 2026 so that the youngest players can have a Christmas song from their very first lesson. It is not a traditional carol.
Quick facts
- Tune
- Traditional (English street cry, 18th century)
- Words
- Digital Greenhouse, 2026 (new words)
- Level
- Kids (a handful of notes, right hand only)
- Key
- C position (right thumb on middle C)
- Time signature
- 4/4
- Length
- 8 bars
- Tempo
- Cheerfully, minim = 63
- Hands
- Right hand only: thumb on middle C, one finger for each key; the finger number is above every note and the letter name under it
- Copyright
- Public domain tune and words; arrangement by Digital Greenhouse, free for personal, church and classroom use
Questions and answers
What level is this arrangement of Ho, Ho, Ho! (to the tune of Hot Cross Buns)?
Is Ho, Ho, Ho! (to the tune of Hot Cross Buns) out of copyright?
Any tips for a first go?
Can I print it?
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