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“Pachebel’s Canon” is one of those pieces of music that is so ubiquitous that you can’t really imagine a time before it was used. And given that it was written sometime between 1680 and 1706, it effectively has been around for all of what we would consider modern history.
But today’s standard wedding entrance music has actually spent most of its life in obscurity. It wasn’t especially popular when it was written, and like most Baroque-era music, it disappeared for the most part as tastes evolved throughout the 18th century.
The piece didn’t come back into favor until the 1960s and 1970s, when new arrangements and recordings emerged as modern music scholars rediscovered old compositions. “Pachabel’s Canon” became a standard song for weddings (and funerals, apparently) during the 1980s, and it hasn’t given up that spot in decades.
“Pachabel’s Canon” Playing Tips
Note: I’m avoiding calling this piece “Canon in D” to avoid confusion. When you transcribe it for low G ukulele, it winds up being in F.
Like most of the more complex classical pieces I arrange for this collection, “Pachebel’s Canon” for low G ukulele is an abridged rendition. I’m not attempting to truly replicate the complexity of a piece meant for multiple instruments.
Rather, I’m trying to give you a flavor of this style of music so that if you do move on to playing guitar, you’ll have already taken your first steps towards learning a more complex arrangement for six strings.
That said, there’s really no way to make this piece “easy” without compromising the core melody. Once you get past the opening four bars, it’s a continuous barrage of eighth notes. Keep your tempo low until you get the patterns down to avoid tangled fingers. This one is all about flow, so don’t go too fast before you’re ready and have an uneven tempo as a result.
Most measures start with a two-note chord to add a little heft to the arrangement as a solo piece, but feel free to leave out the harmonizing note and play this as a single note line until you learn it.
That “rit.” over the 13th measure is short for ritardando, a musical instruction telling you to gradually slow the tempo, dramatically stretching out the final notes until hitting that concluding F chord. The extent to which you slow things down is up to your own tastes as a performer.
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“Pachabel’s Canon” Low G Sheet Music Download
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