Play Your First Clarinet Song

You can make a sound. You understand how air, tongue, and embouchure work together. Now it's time to actually play some music.

In this post, we're going to learn Hot Cross Buns on the clarinet. Yes, that Hot Cross Buns. And by the time you're done, you'll understand not just how to play it, but why the notes are what they are, and how to read music well enough to figure out other songs too. Let's dig in!

1. The How to Play Music Triangle

Just like there's a triangle for making a great sound, there's also a triangle for playing music. The three elements are:

1. Rhythm: when you play the notes. This is the most important.
2. Notes: which pitch you play.
3. Style: how you shape and articulate the music.

We're going to work through all three for Hot Cross Buns.

2. Rhythm: The Most Important Element

Rhythm is the foundation of music. Even if you have the right notes, if your rhythm is off, the music won't sound like itself. Getting the rhythm down first makes everything else easier.

Understanding 4/4 Time

Hot Cross Buns is in 4/4 time. That means there are four quarter notes per measure. Every measure, from one bar line to the next, contains exactly four beats.

Within those four beats, you have to figure out how the written notes fit. Think of it like being a detective: you know there are four beats in every measure, and your job is to figure out where each note lands.

Breaking Down the Rhythm

The first measure has two quarter notes on beats one and two, and then a half note starting on beat three. A half note takes up two beats, so it spans beats three and four. Count it like this: one, two, three (hold through four).

The second measure is identical to the first.

The third measure has eighth notes. An eighth note is half of a quarter note, so there are two eighth notes per beat. Count it as: one-and, two-and, three-and, four-and.

When you put it all together with a steady beat: one, two, three-four, one, two, three-four, one-and-two-and-three-and-four-and, one, two, three-four.

Why a Steady Beat Matters

The steadiness is everything. A quarter note at any speed is a quarter note, but only if you keep the beat consistent. One-two-three-four with random timing between the beats is not 4/4 time. The beats have to be even, like a metronome. That's what makes rhythm feel like rhythm.

3. Notes: Reading the Staff

The clarinet reads in treble clef. The treble clef is sometimes called the G clef because the curl of the clef circles around the G line on the staff.

There are two common ways to remember the notes on the staff. For the lines, people use the phrase Every Good Boy Does Fine, where the first letter of each word gives you E, G, B, D, F from bottom to top. For the spaces, the notes spell FACE from bottom to top.

One thing to remember about musical notes: the musical alphabet only goes from A to G, then loops back to A. So as you go higher on the staff, you go forward through the alphabet, and when you reach G you start over at A.

The Notes in Hot Cross Buns

Hot Cross Buns uses only three notes. Here's where they fall on the staff:

• E is on the bottom line of the staff. That's the E from Every in Every Good Boy Does Fine.
• D is in the space just below that bottom line. Going down from E, you go one step backward in the alphabet to D.
• C has a ledger line through it, sitting just below the staff. Going down from D, one more step backward gives you C.

E, D, C. That's the whole song.

4. Style: Slurs vs. Tonguing

The style element of Hot Cross Buns comes down to slurs. A slur is a curved line connecting two or more notes, and it means you play those notes without tonguing between them. The air is continuous and the only thing that changes is the fingering.

In Hot Cross Buns, the first two notes in each of the first two measures are slurred. The half note at the end of each measure is tongued separately.

So the feel of the first measure is: slur from note one to note two (no tongue between them), then tongue the half note. One continuous stream of air the whole time, with the tongue only coming in at that third note.

In the third measure, with the eighth notes, there's no slur. Each note gets tongued. Still one stream of air, but the tongue interrupts it on each new note.

5. Fingerings for Hot Cross Buns

Here are the three fingerings you need:

• E - Left thumb covers the thumb hole on the back of the upper joint, and the first finger of the left hand covers the first tone hole. That's it. Just two coverage points.
• D - Add the second finger of the left hand to the E fingering. Now you have the thumb and the first two fingers down.
• C - Add the third finger of the left hand to the D fingering. Now the thumb and the first three fingers of the left hand are down.

As you go from E to D to C, you're simply adding one finger at a time. More fingers down equals a lower note. Fewer fingers down equals a higher note. That relationship is going to hold true throughout most of your clarinet playing.

If you're ever looking up a fingering you don't know, a clarinet fingering chart is your best friend. Search for one online, find the note on the staff, and it'll show you a diagram of exactly which holes and keys to cover.

6. Putting It All Together

Now you have everything you need. Here's the checklist before you start:

Set up your embouchure using the sound preparation process. Tongue on the reed, start blowing, then release.

Keep a steady beat in your head. If it helps, count out loud or tap your foot before you start playing.

Remember the rhythm: quarter, quarter, half, quarter, quarter, half, eighth x8, quarter, quarter, half.

Remember the slurs: the first two notes in each of the first two measures are slurred. Everything in the eighth note measure is tongued.

Move your fingers smoothly and in time.

And then just play it. You might not nail it the first time, and that's totally fine. Go slowly, keep the beat steady, and bring all of that great foundational work on embouchure and air that you've been practicing.

Congratulations. If you've made it this far and worked through all of this, you've just played your first song on the clarinet!

I know there's a lot here on the page. Seeing the fingerings in action, watching me count through the rhythms, and hearing what the notes sound like makes this more approachable. The full YouTube video this post is based on walks through every single one of these steps live, including a demonstration of Hot Cross Buns at full speed. If you haven't watched it yet, I'd really recommend pairing it with this post.

Disclosure: Some links in this post are affiliate links. If you make a purchase through them, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. I only recommend products I genuinely trust.