A bass that never changes
The whole Canon rests on eight bass notes that repeat from the first bar to the last: D, A, B, F♯, G, D, G, A. In letters they are 9 6 7 $ 5 2 5 6, all on the number row ($ is Shift+4, the low F♯). Each line of this sheet walks through those eight notes once, with the first violin’s part above.
What each line plays
- The violin’s first entry, in long notes: F♯, E, D, C♯, B, A, B, C♯. Every bracket here pairs one bass note with one melody note for two beats:
[9G] - - [6f] - -and so on. - The first violin carrying on, a step lower: D, C♯, B, A, G, F♯, G, E. In the full Canon this is the moment the second violin comes in underneath with the opening line; the sheet keeps to the first violin.
- The walking line in quarter notes,
y I p o I y I u…, where the bass changes on every second melody note. It closes on a full D major chord,[9yIp].
On a computer keyboard the capitals need Shift: G is F♯5, S is C♯5, I is F♯4. The distance between the hands is large in the first two lines, often more than two octaves, so on a phone the keyboard slides from the bass note to the melody note inside each bracket.
Practising the three lines
Hearing the three lines grow over the same bass is the best introduction, so begin by letting the piano play it. Play it for me sounds each bracket only until the next step, so in line three the bass note stops after one beat, while in the Canon it lasts two; hold Space as a sustain pedal when you play it yourself to let the bass ring for its full length. Then find each bass note with your left hand before adding the top note with your right. Line three is the hardest: the right hand moves every beat while the left moves every second beat.
About the Canon
The Canon comes from Johann Pachelbel’s Canon and Gigue in D major for three violins and basso continuo, written around 1680. In the full piece the three violins enter one after another with the same melody, a canon, over the repeating bass, for 57 bars. It first appeared in print only in 1919, in a musicology journal (Gustav Beckmann, Archiv für Musikwissenschaft), per IMSLP. This sheet covers the opening of the first violin’s part.
To look up any capital or Shift symbol, open the layout for letter sheets.