Did you know Paco Bell's Canon is the most requested song for weddings? Well I'm not
surprised because I've been asked to play it a bajillion times. Today we're going to
do a fairly easy version in the key of C for guitar. I'll start off with the chords and
then we'll go on to do a finger picking pattern as well. I even have a cool play along track
for you to practice with. Let's do this.
Let's start out with the chords. I'm going to show you the chords I'm gonna use and then
we'll kind of go through the chord sequence so you get a sense of how it all fits together.
The first chord is a folk style C chord then we go to a G chord. Notice I didn't put any
fingers on the top string, the high E string that's because I know I'm only going to finger
pick up to the second string so I don't need that top string then comes the A minor chord
and the E minor chord.
Now I want to review those four chords one more time because I want to go over the bass
notes. For the C, it's the fifth string right there. You're going to need that. For the
G, it’s that sixth string and again I don't need the high string. For the A minor, we
go back to the fifth string. It's an actual A note and then for the E minor the low sixth
string. Going on, we're ready for the F chord and I'm going to use a non-bar version of
the F. It looks like this. It looks a lot like the C chord. C going from the C to this
F. It's pretty easy. C and F. I put my pinky down on the third fret and move my second
finger over to the third string. Again, I won't need that high string and I won't need
the B string. We're going to use the fifth string for the bass note. By the way if you're
comfortable with bar chords and you want to do a bar F that's perfectly fine and of course
the bass would be on the sixth string so that's all the chords we got.
Let's do it in order now. I'm just going to do one strum per chord so you can hear the
actual sequence and how they fit together. Start with C. Oh you can play along. I'll
do it two times so if you want to listen the first time that's fine. C, go. Now G, A minor.
I'm deliberately starting from the base. E minor then F to C nice easy switch back to
F and to G that was one time through the entire sequence.
Go ahead and do it with me. This time. C, G, A minor, E minor, F C F and G. If the sequence
starts to make sense, you've probably heard this song many times and usually people can
kind of start hearing how the chords fit together based on how many times they've heard that
song.
Now we're going to go on to the finger picking pattern. I'm going to resort to the numbering
system in my right hand. It's not the finger numbers by the way, it's the string numbers
I'm talking about. This finger picking pattern thinking of it in numbers is five four three
two three four so I'm starting on the fifth string, to the fourth string, third string,
second string and then back down and then we start over and the pattern starts over.
In this case the bass note is on the fifth string. It's a C chord so let's try that.
First of all go and put your fingers on the fourth string. By the way, just so you know
we're not going to use the high E at all so you have to worry about that. Sometimes the
thumb will be on the fifth string and sometimes on the sixth string. We'll start with the
fifth string. Make your C chord. So go ahead and plant your hand thumbs on the fifth string
and start. Fifth string now the first finger, second finger, third finger and then go backwards
second finger and first finger. String numbers, let's do it again five four three two three
four. Not bad. One more time, go.
Okay so you might want to practice just that pattern a little more. We're going to use
the exact same pattern throughout only moving the thumb. If you're ready, go on to make
the G chord and we'll start with the thumb on the sixth string. The fingers go to four
three two. Again. Here we go, ready hit it - six four three two three four catch that.
I'm calling out the string names. Let's do it again. Start with six. Go. Six four three
two three four.
Let's go on to the A minor chord that's the next one in the series and we're moving the
thumb back to the fifth string. Ready, playing your hand. Now you're ready, good. Go. Five
four three two three four and then the E minor. Again we move the thumb back to the sixth
string. Go. So you must have noticed by now your fingers are always going the exact same
place. It's only the thumb that's moving around. Let's do those four chords in a row. Don't
worry if you don't get it perfect. It's kind of like a run through like a you know if you're
doing a play you kind of just walk through the motions not expecting to get it perfect.
Let's do a C chord. Ready, hit it. I'll call it the chords. Going to G now, A minor now
fifth string and E minor. You're halfway there, that's halfway through the piece.
Now let's do the second half starting with the F chord. By the way we're going to be
going F C F G. Okay starting with the F chord and I'm doing the non-bar version. Follow
me or do any version you want really. You're going to need the fifth string for the bass
with the non-bar version. If you're making a bar chord you could use the sixth string
either way. Make the chord, plant your hand and let's do it. Fifth string five four three
two three four enter A C chord. Easy switch if you're doing the non-bar, hit it. Back
to the F and to the G, sixth string. You got it and that's the second half.
By the way, in case you're wondering, the F chord is the only chord that I'm not actually
playing the bass note that's the same name as the chord. Like with the C chord that bass
note is a C but with the F chord, I'm still playing the C bass note. It's still a part
of the chord and it's viable bass note. It's just not the root which is what we call F
chord. We're playing the F note that would be the root of the chord. When we play a C
it's a different note out of the chord. It's okay. As a matter of fact you'll find out
as you progress with finger picking sometimes you even like to alternate play the root and
then play a different note and then back to the root to make some interest.
Let's go on. We're going to play this whole sequence all the way through that's eight
chords starting with the C. Don't worry we'll go slow and I'll call it the chords. Go ahead
and plant your hand. The fifth string is the bass note, C chord. Ready, hit it. Going to
G think G now sixth string. Go into A minor fifth string that's the bass note and E minor
sixth string. F chord is still fifth string and C chord. F one more time and
the G chord.
Very good.
So now you have all the parts. Go ahead and practice the chords. Practice the finger picking
pattern then go ahead and put them together and when you're ready practice with the pachelbel
canon backing track.