Canon in D

A single 8-bar bass line repeated unchanged underneath an unfolding set of variations — the same harmonic loop for the entire piece, so the interest is entirely in how the melody above it keeps reinventing itself, from simple half-notes to rippling 16th-note runs. Written for three violins and continuo around 1680, all but forgotten for two centuries, and now one of the most-played pieces of music at weddings worldwide.

Learn it variation by variation, not start to finish — each 8-bar block is its own small technical study. Keep the left hand's repeating pattern relaxed and quiet throughout; it should recede so each new right-hand variation reads as a fresh idea, not a struggle.

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