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left handright handthumb · behindT½123456½7½bellleft handright handthumb · behindT½123456½7½bell
C4sounds C5Thumb on

Baroque (English): F is a fork. On the recorder, hole 5 is bigger than hole 4.

SongsCanon in D
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2 more songs need notes this instrument does not have. Changing the size or key brings some of them into reach.

Play along
  1. 3'
  2. 2'
  3. 1'
  4. 7
  5. 6
  6. 5
  7. 6
  8. 7
  9. 1'
  10. 7
  11. 6
  12. 5
  13. 4
  14. 3
  15. 4
  16. 2
  17. 1

Johann Pachelbel, c. 1680. Public domain.

27 notes · C4–D6 written · sounds C5–D7 · 27 notes · The descant: the recorder in every school bag. In C, and it sounds an octave above its written part.

Tap a note, or slide along them to slur from note to note in one breath. On a keyboard the letters on the notes are the ones to press — Q is the bottom note and they climb a semitone at a time.

RecorderFree · printable · plays in your browser

Canon in D — Recorder Notes

Canon in D (the opening line), written out for the recorder as letter notes with the fingering drawn under each one and set up above on the Soprano. Press Play to hear it, Practice to learn it one note at a time — the recorder waits for you — or Play along to keep time with it.

  • Notes17, 10 pitches
  • RangeC4–E5
  • Key hereC major
  • Tempo72 bpm · about 15 s
  • LevelIntermediate

Can a recorder 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.

  • Soprano✓ Plays as writtenIn C major, C4–E5 · loaded above
  • Alto✓ Plays as writtenIn C major, C5–E6 · load it
  • Tenor✓ Plays as writtenIn C major, C4–E5 · load it

Canon in D: recorder notes

The large line is the note, and the drawing is its fingering — a filled hole or key is one that is down. 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 — recorder notes (Soprano) · tonalics.com

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.

  • CC4×1
  • DD4×1
  • EE4×1
  • FF4×2
  • GG4×2
  • AA4×3
  • BB4×3
  • CC5×2
  • DD5×1
  • EE5×1

What to expect on a recorder

  • It runs from C4 to E5, an octave and a major third, using 10 different notes. Its lowest note is the lowest this instrument has, and 10 semitones of range are left above it.
  • 94% of its moves are a step or a repeated note. The widest is a minor third, F4 to D4, at note 16.
  • E5 needs the pinched thumb, the half-covered thumb hole that gives the upper octave.

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.

More songs for the recorder

All 36 recorder songs · Christmas songs for recorder · The online recorder on its own

Playing it on a real recorder?

If it sounds wrong, check the instrument before the notes. The recorder tuner listens through your microphone and names what each note is actually sounding.

🎙 Open the Recorder Tuner