Canon in D on Guitar — Tab, Chords & Play Online

Notes17, 10 pitches
RangeG3–B4
Key hereG major
Tempo72 bpm · about 15 s
LevelIntermediate

Can a guitar play Canon in D?

Yes — every one on this page plays it. The check is made note by note against what each one can actually sound. Where the tune does not fit as the library writes it, another key or octave is tried, and the table says which; where nothing fits, it names the notes that are missing.

Acoustic✓ Plays as writtenIn G major, G3–B4 · loaded above
Classical✓ Plays as writtenIn G major, G3–B4 · load it

Canon in D: guitar tab

The large line is the fret — 0 is the open string; the small line under it is the string it is on. A dash holds the note another beat, an underline is half a beat, and a dot beside a note makes it half as long again. Each line is one phrase.

▶ Play it above

Canon in D — guitar tab (Acoustic) · tonalics.com

7High E5High E3High E2High E0High E3B0High E2High E3High E2High E0High E3B1B0B1B2G0G–

Canon in D guitar tab as text

The same notes as tablature: one line per string, the thin high E on top, and each number the fret to press on that line — 0 is the open string. Read it left to right, one note at a time.

e|-7-5-3-2-0---0-2-3-2-0--------------|
B|-----------3-----------3-1-0-1------|
G|-------------------------------2-0--|
D|------------------------------------|
A|------------------------------------|
E|------------------------------------|

Are there chords for it?

Not on this page. The chords here are chosen by rule — the three chords of the key — and they are only offered where that rule can be checked against a published harmonisation and agrees with it on most bars. This melody has no barred score in its sources to hang chords on. The tab above is the whole tune.

The 10 notes it uses

Lowest to highest, with how many times each is played. Learn these 10 and you can play the whole tune.

0G×1
2G×1
0B×1
1B×2
3B×2
0High E×3
2High E×3
3High E×2
5High E×1
7High E×1

What to expect on a guitar

It runs from G3 to B4, an octave and a major third, using 10 different notes. That leaves 15 semitones unused below and 5 above.
94% of its moves are a step or a repeated note. The widest is a minor third, C4 to A3, at note 16.
The highest note is at fret 7, so the hand has to leave first position for it.
It is played on 3 strings (G, B and High E), and 5 notes are an open string.
The picking hand changes string 4 times.

About the tune

Pachelbel wrote the Canon and Gigue in D for three violins and bass around 1680. It was almost forgotten until a 1968 recording made it one of the most played pieces of baroque music and a fixture at weddings.

Johann Pachelbel, c. 1680. Public domain. More about Canon in D →

Canon in D on other instruments

The same melody, in each instrument’s own notation. It is not offered for the guzheng or handpan, which do not have the notes.

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