Teach Yourself Pachelbel's Canon on Piano! (You really can, even a total beginner!

) The media clips:

Last update: 22-Feb-2004 - 3 new variation/sample performances! Lesson One:

Introduction: 1. Mp3, single-note

progression
I play piano. Well, I WISH I played piano! But I can make a few nice sounds on a piano, and I think 2. Mp3, Octave
you probably could too! Progession
3. Video, Octaves
So, if you wish you could play some piano too, something that sounds really nice, but isn't too hard
to learn, I think I can help you out... or if you already tinker around, maybe know a couple of nice Lesson Two:
tunes you learned by ear, then this will be even easier. Using your (even untrained) ear, your eyes,
and I guess your fingers, you'll be playing beautiful wedding music in just a few fun weeks of 1. MP3, walking
practice! It's adaptable to other occassions as well... [grin] bassline (left
hand)
The problem I encountered, so many years ago, whilst fiddling with keyboards, guitars, etc, was: 2. Photo/Diagram,
How to find something really nice to play? Beautiful, but easy enough to learn, gradually, with nice bassline (C)
LOW frustration level? Well, there is a very beautiful baroque piece called Pachelbel's Canon, that 3. Photo, First 3
you've certainly heard many many times - it's sort of 'iconic' of classical music. Written by Johann notes
Pachelbel sometime around... uh, a long time ago, it's usually arranged and performed in 'D' - which 4. Photo, reaching
is not the easiest key for the piano. over
5. Video clip,
So I learned it in C, by listening to George Winston's 'December' CD about a thousand times. I still walking bassline
can't play it anything like he does, Winston is a master! (and besides, he doesn't play it in C!) But 6. Sheet music
anyway, I CAN make a website all about 'Teach yourself Pachelbel's Canon on the Piano" - hope (26kb gif)
somebody out there gets some enjoyment, learning, pleasure from this... maybe email me if you do!
( Lorenzo{at}Lgonzalez.net ) use the simple feedback form I setup! The very best thing about the Lesson Three:
Canon is how easily you can make 'variations' on it - improvise and invent new melodies and styles
on top of the basic progression!  MP3, slammin'
the bass line!
So, let's get started. You'll need an MP3 player to listen to the clips, if you're using a recent version
of MacOS or Windows, you're all set. If not, I highly recommend Zinf (was FreeA*p). Lesson Four:

Prerequisite/Step Zero: 1. Diagram, solo-

note melody
First, do you know the names of the notes on the piano keyboard? You really (kinda) need to. Click 2. Pic, my hand on
here for a graphic, if you don't. the first chord
3. Mp3, solo-note...
4. Mp3, two-note
chord
Lesson One (The basic chord progression): 5. Mp3, complete
with bassline
The basic "progression" of Canon (in C!) goes like this: C - G - A - E - F - C - F - G ... and repeats
over and over. It sounds like this. (played through twice) For guitar folks, and/or the more musicly Lesson Five:
"experienced", the chord progession is C - G - Am - Em - F - C - F - G
1. Mp3, Two new
Naturally, you want to play it with at least a little more action, right? Well, hold your horses, first melodies
learn it like this: use your left hand to span the octave (an octave is basically "8 notes", get it? "Oct - 2. Plain, and slow
tave"? okay, sorry), play the notes with both your thumb (finger "#1") and your pinky (finger "#5") 3. With the bassline
at the same time. Here's a pic, me playing 'G' in octave, but of course, you'll do the same, starting and a little trill*
with 'C'. Here's an mpeg video clip, of the basic bass line, played in octaves. (kinda fast, to reduce 4. Variation with
file size and download time) Here's an MP3 clip. The clip should sound like the single-note clip, chord decorations
only "richer". 5. Sheet music
(36kb gif)

Lesson Six:
Lesson Two (Walking the left-handed bassline):
 Lesson Six, three
The bassline might be nice if it walked along in quarter notes, no? (A quarter note is a note that falls times in a row!
-on- the count, and lasts for -one- count, Canon is played in 4/4 time, there are four beats per (2.4mb)
measure, also called "Common Time"). The bassline in this Mp3 clip is all quarter notes. The neat  Sheet music
thing is, it's exactly the same pattern, played 8 times, played exactly once for each note in the
 (53kb gif)
progression you learned above. Your left hand will do the same thing, 8 times in a row, then just
start over again. The first four notes are C - G - C - E, and they are played with your pinky, index Lesson Seven:
finger, thumb, then index finger crossing over the thumb. Here's a pic of my hand on the first three
notes. (C-G-C) though you will play them one at a time. And here's one of my index finger reaching  Lesson Seven,
over, for the fourth note. Occasionally, rather than reaching over with your index finger, you might twice in a row,
like the play the first note again with your pinky. Also, the first note of the "walking chord" can be then some foolin'
played in the octave, just like you learned in step one. Here is the video clip, played through only around (2.3mb)
once.  Sheet music
(54kb gif)
Here are all 32 notes of the bassline. (Four notes that construct a "walking chord" for each note of  Sheet music
the eight in the progression) w/improvised
melody (73kb gif)
1. C-G-C-E (start here, like in the picture)
Lesson Eight:
2. G-D-G-B (put your thumb where your index finger was in chord 1)
 Lesson Eight, for
3. A-E-A-C (shift your hand up one key) the most
Ambitious
4. E-B-E-G (put your thumb where your index finger was in chord 3) Students only!
(3.3mb)
5. F-C-F-A (shift your hand up one key)  Sheet music
(45kb gif)
6. C-G-C-E (put your thumb where your index finger was in step 5!, this is one whole octave down
from the starting point) There are still a few
melodies to cover, and a
7. F-C-F-A (same as step 5) lesson in improvisation
maybe. At a certain
point - it'd be good if you
8. G-D-G-B (same as step 2)
could just read simple
sheet music, and I could
 Sheet music (26kb gif) post that instead of
these (tedious?)
instructions, eh? Time
for some formal piano
Lesson Three (pound Lesson Two into the ground): lessons?

Practice lesson two until you can play it like crazy, no mistakes, over and over again. Seriously. Here are a handful of
When your right-hand comes into play (next lesson!) you'll wish your left hand could just play the clips of me noodling
bassline without your attention, just automatically. Here's your chance to practice that little wish around with the Canon...
right into reality. You should be able to play it without pausing, without thinking about it at all, I don't think I've ever
before you move on. Even then, you'll wish you had practiced it more, trust me! Here's a clip of me played it the same way
playing it twice through (and kinda pounding on it), notice on the second pass, at the bottom (the twice (except while
low 'C') I hit the pinky again, rather than reach over with the index finger for the 'E'. You can do that making these lessons!),
at your discretion, as a nice accent... alternatively, try leaving the last note totally silent, just let the and here are a few
first three ring through the 'quarter-rest' by staying on the sustain pedal. You'll hear that in a clip in ideas, or "moods" of the
Lesson Four. Canon, as I like to say.

 3-note Andante -
very old
Lesson Four (your first right-hand stuff!): recording, April
'02
We're going to keep this lesson very, very simple.  Lullaby 1 - very
To start, you'll be playing a very simple, one-note melody with your right hand. It goes C-B-A-G-F- old recording,
E-F-G, I suggest you play it with just your right thumb, sliding down one note at a time, it's very March '02
simple. Here's the photo-diagram. Got that? It's very lame, just starts at 'C' walks down 6 notes to 'E'  Baritone in a
and walks up two notes, ending on 'G' before starting again. Hurry, 1 - very
Now, you'll do the same thing, but make a two-note chord (see pic), by adding your middle finger to old recording,
your thumb. Then you use those two fingers to walk down and up the same melody as before. In the March '02
pic, I'm holding my index finger up out of the way so you can see the keys. Normally, you should  Dense Middle
just let it lay on the key ('D' in this case). Motion
C/E - B/D - A/C - G/B - F/A - E/G - F/A - G/B and it repeats itself! Here's a clip. - April 14 '03,
When you've got that down, add the bassline from Lesson Three. It'll hopefully sound like this, or Yamaha P120
 direct to disk.
perhaps, even better! It's starting to get pretty, isn't it!?
NEW! 14-FEB-04
 Resonant 9ths
- Feb 22 '04,
Lesson Five: Played on the
Roland FP-3 and
rendered with the
Starting with this lesson, you will need Microsoft Windows Media Player 8 or higher (7 or
PMI Steinway
higher on Mac)... sorry!
Model D with a
ton of reverb.
Here's a clip of the two melodies in lesson five. 2.4MB, a short
The first melody in that clip is so easy you should be able to figure it out for yourself! It's actually a 2:06 minutes
simple variation on the down/up scale "melody" you mastered in Lesson Four... I suppose if enough long
people complain about this, I might go ahead and make video - but I challenge you to figure it out  On and On with
yourself from the audio recording! It's a very important exercise, and in fact is exactly how I learned 9ths
all this stuff (except for some variations I made up myself, which will eventually appear in later - Feb 22 '04,
lessons) Performed on
Roland FP-3 and
But the second melody in that clip - while easy to play, is very difficult/impractical to describe in rendered with the
words. (why music notation was invented). For now, I'm just going to say "start with your right- absolutely
hand pinky on the C above middle C" and put up video clips. incredible PMI
Bosendorfer 290.
 Plain, and slow (853kb) 8MB, almost 7
 With the bassline added and a little trill* minutes long (on
 Variation with some chord decorations and on...)
 Sheet music (36kb gif)  Semi-traditional
- Feb 22 '04,
You may notice that when you add the bassline to this melody, you must modify the last note of the Sounds basically
first arpeggio of the bassline. You'll see (and hear!) that your thumbs will land on side-by-side keys like all these
(E/F), and make a horrible sound! So instead, play the pinky of your left hand again as the last note lessons strung
in the first chord progression (C). You could also play the middle C, where your thumb was at the together, with
third note of this arpeggio. But the bass note of the lower C is quite pleasing... some minor
variation.
Rendered with
And here's a clip of Lessons 1 through 5, all together... nice!
PMI Steinway D.
5.2MB, about
4:30 minutes
long (on and
Lesson Six (The melodies have two-note and sometimes three-note chords now...): on...)

Listen - I'm just really crunched for time these days, but I wanted to get something new up here, Whenever I happen to
since so many people are emailing and begging for new lessons. So at the moment - this is just a record a good one, I'll
single clip, with the melody played three times in a row, first with a simple bassline, then twice with put it up here.
full walking bassline. I'll break it up into separate files (and maybe play it slower!) as soon as I have
time. In the meantime, sorry this video file is so big! (2.4mb)

One tip for this lesson, and lesson seven: practice making two-note chords with your right hand! Contributor and/or
With your thumb on 'C', play fingers 1/3, then 2/4, then 3/5, then 3/5, 2/4, 1/3. Go back and forth. Student Media
Halfway, and around and around. Then try sliding it up and down the keyboard one key at a time.
I'll post a video of this if folks don't get it. But from the video of this lesson, you'll probably know
what I mean!  Kai Cui, Helsinki,
Finland (9.4mb
avi video)
 Lesson Six, three times in a row! (2.4mb)
Kai picked up
 Sheet music (54kb gif) piano and started
practicing Canon
in November '03
as a "relaxing
Lesson Seven (One of my fav's, and a little improv): hobby", and in
mid-February '04
If you did alright with Lesson Six, this one shouldn't be too hard. Note carefully that the right hand made this terrific
does NOT START ON THE BEAT! Hear the bassline start first? That can make this melody quite video to share
dramatic, but a little tricky the first few times you try it. I play it twice through, then break out and with fellow
have a little fun. Listen carefully - that's my almost-8-year-old son humming in the background! students. I really
 like the way
performance
utilizes so much
of the keyboard,
and varies the
tempo and even
time signature of
the whole piece.
There's just a lot
of emotive
expression for
such a new
player! Perhaps
most remarkably
Like lesson six, this one isn't nicely broken up into separate video files yet...
at all - there's no
sustain pedal.
 Lesson Seven, twice in a row, then some foolin' around (2.3mb) Probably a good
 Sheet music (53kb gif) thing to start this
 Sheet music w/improvised melody (73kb gif) [by special request from one of my way, since it's
favorite students] very easy to
become addicted
to and dependent
on the sustain
Lesson Eight (Easily the most famous melody): pedal (I am an
admitted addict).
Okay - here it is! The most famous of all the melodies buried within Pachelbel's Canon! This one -Lorenzo
has "too many notes!" (name that quote! heehe!)

Like lessons six and seven, this one isn't cut into separate video files yet, and worse, I played it a
little too fast. I'll make better video soon, I hope! Luckily I play it 4 times: no bass, simple bass, - Send me
walking bass, chorded-melody, then bust out a little lesson 5! Suggestions! -

 Lesson Eight, for the most Ambitious Students only! (3.3mb) - About my gear &
 Sheet music (45kb gif) pianos -

Tying it together
 Semi-traditional Performance
Sounds basically like all these lessons strung together in various order, with some minor Important Links
variations thrown in to confuse you. Rendered with PMI Steinway D. 5.2MB, about 4:30 The musician whose
minutes long - Feb 22 '04. Canon first inspired me:
George Winston

The incredible (free!)

notation software I used:
Lesson Nine (what next?):
Notepad from the good,
good folks at Make
Coming soon... send me an email (Lorenzo(-at-)LGonzalez.net), or use the Feedback page if you're Music! Be sure to check
in a hurry or just to give me a nudge. Amazingly enough, I get emails from all around the world out 'Finale' - their
about these lessons, and it makes me very happy. Please do send a note or use the feedback page! awesome package for
REAL musicians.

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