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Canon in D — theme and variations

Play four progressive four-bar variations of Pachelbel’s Canon, transposed to C major for clean reading.

Next stepsJohann Pachelbel · 16-bar theme and variations in C major · piano one handPiano · One hand · C major · 4/4

72 beats per minute. Changing speed stops playback; press Play to start again.

Composed by Johann Pachelbel (c. 1680); source edition by Mutopia Project. Public domain composition and source edition. Teaching arrangement by NotePlayMusic. · www.noteplaymusic.com

Try it at the keyboard

  1. Bars 1–4 walk smoothly down and up in minims (two beats each): E–D–C–B–A–G–A–B.
  2. Bars 5–12 decorate the same chord cycle in flowing crotchets — keep the underlying pulse steady.
  3. Bars 13–16 begin on C5 and descend to middle C for a gentle close.

About this score

Transposed from D major to C major across four four-bar variations so beginners can experience Pachelbel’s variation structure without sharps.

Composed by Johann Pachelbel (c. 1680); source edition by Mutopia Project. Public domain composition and source edition. Teaching arrangement by NotePlayMusic.

Source notation · Source score & rights notice