Songs · Ukulele · Intermediate
Canon in D
Johann Pachelbel · Canon and Gigue in D major for three violins and bass (date unknown, about 1680–1706): the opening
Ukulele · classicalfingerpicking, strummingD major4/4 time11 barslow-G tuning
Arranged: Teddy Rook Book: the first violin part of the opening for ukulele in low-G tuning, over Pachelbel’s eight chords.
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About this piece
Pachelbel’s eight chords, D A Bm F♯m G D G A, repeat every two bars from start to finish: strum them first, one down strum per chord, until they flow. The tune comes in at bar 3, the first violin’s part, slow notes and then eighth notes. Its first notes walk down the 1st string from the 9th fret; in bar 9 the hand moves up to the 9th position for a quick climb to the high A; the low B in bar 8 is the 4th fret of the low G string. Two players sound best here: one strums the chords and the other picks the tune.
What it practices
- low-G tuning
- a chord on every beat
- Bm and F♯m
- moving up the neck to the 5th position
Chords in this song
Each link opens the chord finder with more ways to play that chord.
Where the notes come from
Melody as in our piano version of the Canon, which was checked note by note against the score of the opening on Wikipedia’s “Pachelbel’s Canon” page (first violin). The chords are the ones of Pachelbel’s bass line. Our checking script compares the two melodies beat by beat.
How to practice with it
- Listen first. Press Play and follow along. The note being played lights up in the tab, in the notation and on the fretboard, and the chord being played lights up in the row of chord diagrams.
- Learn the chords. Press each diagram to hear it, then practice changing between them slowly, before you add the strum pattern under the tab.
- Slow it down. Use − and + to set the tempo. 60% is a good place to start; the notes keep their pitch.
- One part at a time. Choose Tab only to hear the tune alone, or the other part alone, then put them together.
- Loop the hard part. Under More…, turn on Loop, pick the bars, and play them a few times in a row. Count-in gives you a bar of clicks before it starts.
Click a bar in the music to start from there. Space plays and pauses. Left-handed? Turn on the left-handed view: the chord diagrams and the fretboard are mirrored to match your instrument. Tab reads the same either way: the top line is always the first (highest) string.