Songs · Intermediate
Canon in D
Johann Pachelbel · Canon and Gigue in D major for three violins and bass (date unknown, about 1680–1706): the opening
D major4/4 time11 barsboth hands
Arranged: Teddy Rook Book: simplified for piano, keeping the bass line and the first violin part of the opening. The notes here are not exactly the ones the composer wrote.
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About this piece
The left hand plays the same eight bass notes over and over, two bars at a time, just as the cello does in Pachelbel’s piece. Learn that pattern first: it never changes. Then add the right hand, which plays the first violin part: slow notes at first, then flowing eighth notes.
What it practices
- a repeating bass line (ground bass)
- D major (key signature: two sharps)
- eighth notes
- hands together
Where the notes come from
Notes checked note by note against the score of the opening on Wikipedia’s “Pachelbel’s Canon” page (violin I and cello). We keep those two lines for bars 1 to 10 and add a final D chord.
How to practice with it
- Listen first. Press Play and follow the moving line with your eyes. The lit notes and keys show what sounds right now: blue is the right hand, orange the left.
- Slow it down. Use − and + to set the tempo. 60% is a good place to start.
- One hand at a time. Choose Right or Left, learn that hand, then put them together.
- Wait for me. Turn it on and press Start. The lit keys show what to play, and the music waits until you play them, on the screen, on your computer keyboard or on a MIDI keyboard.
- Loop the hard part. Turn on Loop, pick the bars, and play them a few times in a row.
Click a bar in the music to start from there. Space plays and pauses. The computer keys A S D F G H J K play C D E F G A B C (press ⌨ Computer keys under the music to see them on the piano).