How to Write a Canon

1. Choose some chords

Canons are based on chords which span a fixed number of bars. Frere Jacques is based on
two bars – you can see that each part joins in exactly two bars after the previous one. It’s up
to you how many bars of chords you want to work with, but 2 or 4 is a good number to start
with (until you are a canon-pro!).

For this example, we will plan our canon on two bars of harmony (like Frere Jacques).

The next step is to decide how often you want to change the chord. Again, this is up to you.
(“Frere Jacques” doesn’t actually change chord at all!) You could opt to change the chord
once per bar, twice per bar, three or four times, or a mixture. Have fun experimenting.

We have chosen four chords for bar 1, and four other chords for bar 2.

The actual chords in the plan are completely up to you as well. To play it safe, you can stick
to chords I, IV and V. To add a bit more interest, you can add II and VI or even III. If you are
a bit of a harmony guru, you could plan in some crunchy Neapolitan 6ths or added 9ths. If
you are an anarchist, you could plan an atonal canon. (Let me know if you do, I’d love to hear
it!)

Write down the chords you’ve picked for your two bars; something like this (we’re in F
major):

Bar 1: Dm (VI) – Bb (IV) – F (I) – C (V)

Bar 2: F (I) – Gm (II) – C (V) – F (I)

This is your chord plan.

2. Create Bars 1 & 2 of the Dux (opening part)

We will simply write ONE note for each chord. Work out which notes are in the chord, and
pick one. Don’t overthink it; it really doesn’t matter too much at this stage which one you
pick.

In our plan, D minor was the first chord. So our first note can be D, F or A.

Continue the same way for each chord. For a pleasanter melody, pick notes which are close to
the previous one you picked (i.e. the melody moves by seconds or thirds). Don’t worry about
bigger intervals or repeating a note though – just fill up the two bars!

3. Create the Next Section of the Dux

We are going to make the “dormez-vous?” section of the canon, which is also two bars long.
This time, we are again going to pick a note from our planned chords, but NOT the same one
we picked in step 1. E.g. if we picked D from the first planned chord of D minor, this time we
need to pick one of the other notes from D minor – F or A. Again, we will just pick ONE note
per chord.

For each chord, pick a note which you didn’t pick in step 2. This will ensure that bars 3-4 of
your dux are different to bars 1-2.

4. Create More Sections

For bars 5-6, do the same thing. Try to pick the note from the chord which you hadn’t used.
So if you picked D as your first note, then F as the first note in bar 3, this time you would be
left with A for the first note in bar 5.

For a symmetrical canon, 8 bars is a good length. For bars 7-8 of your dux, you will have to
choose notes which you’ve already picked, since most chords only contain three unique notes
but we have four phrases. This doesn’t matter at all – by the time this part of the canon is
being played, the harmony will be thick and luscious anyway. Pick whichever notes take your
fancy from your planned chords.

5. Add Melodic Decoration

“Melodic decoration” simply means “notes in the melody which are not contained in the
harmony”. All the notes we’ve put in so far were picked from chords, so they are harmony
notes. To make a more interesting tune, we add in notes which weren’t in the chords. There’s
a method to this, so that the tune still sounds good.

Find places in your Dux where the melody moves by a third. These places are easy to spot
because the tune note moves from a line to the next line, or a space to the next space.

The G-B is an interval of a third; so is the A-C.

Then, slot a note in between. You will need to halve the value of the first note (e.g. crotchet
becomes quaver, or quarter note becomes eighth note).

6. Copy and Paste

Your Dux is now finished. Because we only have four bars at the moment, first, copy and
paste the whole thing on the same stave so that you have eight bars. Then all you need to do
is copy it into the other parts in the right place. If your chord plan was two bars, then you
need to wait for part 1 to complete two bars, then copy the dux in at bar 3. For a third part,
wait two more full bars, and paste again in bar 5. You can add as many parts as you like, but
it’s probably more sane to stick to 3 or 4.

Because each two-bar section is based on the same chord plan, the parts will blend together
harmoniously. But because you’ve actually got an 8-bar melody, it won’t sound the same all
the way through. This is especially true if you choose different instruments to play each part
– the different timbres (instrument sounds) make the melody sound different each time it
enters.