Pachelbel's Canon in D is one of the classic piano pieces by Johann Pachelbel that everyone loves! In this Canon in D piano tutorial you will learn this piece in a non-traditional way that uses chords rather than fully notated sheet music. Give it a try!
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Pachelbel's Canon in D is one of the most recognizable pieces of classical music. You often hear it at weddings, thanks to its pastoral quality. It was composed by Baroque composer Johann Pachelbel and was originally scored for three violins and basso continuo.
It was composed sometime between 1680 and 1706 - how's that for vague?!? (they didn't keep great records back then!)
Pachelbel was mostly known for his organ playing and composition and has composed hundreds of works for his favorite instrument.
A different way of learning classical music
For this Pachelbel's Canon in D piano tutorial, I will be showing you a modern approach to learning classical music. Rather than reading complicated fully notated piano music, I will show you how to play this from a lead sheet.
A lead sheet shows the notated melody and the chords. You can see that there are letter names that are marked above the written notation. These are the chord symbols. Once you are able to play your major and minor chords through the keys, then you can pretty much play any lead sheet!
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Which version of notation looks easier to play?
To the left, you can see traditional classical piano music, which consists of full notation of both the left and right hands. How long would it take you to play this?
To the right, you can see a lead sheet of the same song. All you need to be able to do is play the notate right hand part and play chords in your left hand. How long would it take you to play this?
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