Principles of Music: The Pachelbel Progression

[@edwardblair4096]

1:12 My understanding is that in the "pre-Renaissance" period the interval of a third was not thought of as "too lovely sounding" or "salacious" but rather as dissonant. Largely due to using a tuning system that favored perfectly tuened fifths at the expense of less well tuned thirds (Pythagorian tuning). It wasn't untill they started using tuning systems where the thirds were more in tune that they started considering the interval of the third consonant. This is a very simplistic explination that leaves out a lot of nuance, but I think is more accurate than the simplification used in the video.

[@JamesOKeefe-US]

Not gonna lie, regardless of how many times I hear it, I still get chills from this progression. I have no idea why but it doesn't matter, I hear a pachabel hook and I'm in. Trite but true :) This video has helped me understand it so much more. A literal foundation of my musical life explained brilliantly, thank you. Subbed! 👍

[@TheSapphireLeo]

Same! It fills us up!

[@Hamboarding]

I also never get bored of it and there are so many variations!

[@whitwrk1]

This progression is widely used in contemporary gospel improvisation, particularly with the chromatically altered bass line mentioned here. Now I can apply some degree of appropriate nomenclatural reference. Thanks!!

[@MusicaUniversalis]

Fascinating. It’s everywhere.

[@Martill3]

The progression is also used in the 3rd movement of Beethoven’s sonata no. 25 (op. 79) in G, same exact progression and bassline as the op. 110 example!

[@theonlybilge]

But do you have the time, To listen to me whine? About everything and nothing all at once?

[@SeamzKing]

This is very common in European (style) power metal, it just fits perfectly.

[@jonaswolfmusic1775]

I love how you derived the progression from the stepwise falling third chain ("Terzgymel") and showed which different kind of variations / basses you can do with it, which seems to be the historically most appropriate approach. Is your channel's name a reference to Athanasius Kircher btw? :-)

[@juliannewman2ndchannelmusi475]

Beautiful and really informative video! My favourite version is a _minor key_ version: Mozart Fantasia in C minor, K396 [which was unfinished by Mozart and then completed, with modifications, by Maximilian Stadler - but the minor Pachelbel progression was already in the original Mozart fragment.]

[@Hamboarding]

That sounds interesting! I will look it up!

[@everettworld1765]

Love the video, so full of knowledge presented very well.

[@caterscarrots3407]

Is it just me or is there a resemblance between the Pachelbel Progression and the octave bass line of Bach’s Air on the G String? Only every other bass note is harmonized with its own chord in Air on the G string, at least for the first 5 notes, so maybe it’s not a full on Pachelbel Progression, but I still can’t help but notice a resemblance. Pachelbel Progression: D A Bm F#m G D G A repeat ad infinitum Bach’s Bass Line: D C# B A G G# A F# E etc. Particularly the descent to G is what I’m talking about when I say I notice a resemblance here.

[@blackfalcon1324]

did anyone else sing the last two notes every time he played the progression? It drove me crazy XD

[@ronaldoquintos1675]

Modern day listener are not accustom to complex music. It’s the reason why Canon in D is so popular these days where music is down to bare minimum. Even as a musician I find many classical music too complex for my ear, much less an average listener.

[@maniak1768]

The progression is also widely known under the name 'Romanesca', so you know what to look for in most literature on harmony.

[@ДмитрийБаженов-ш6т]

Only first 4 chords

[@Whatismusic123]

Wrong.

[@maniak1768]

@@Whatismusic123 Yes, it is. Look in Gjerdingen's 'Music in the galant style'.

[@maniak1768]

@@ДмитрийБаженов-ш6т The first six, the last two are a cadenza.

[@ajames283]

I like Albinoni Op. 2 No. 2 (1700) even better than Pachelbel's canon in D.

[@noelhutz]

Underrated channel! Love your videos

[@junlee7237]

i missed your videos, please keep uplaoding!!!

[@lucasmarin6124]

Great content and beautiful editing!

[@guille____]

We missed you! Great video as always :)

[@GabrielWilliamsOfficial]

Love your videos. They are unique. Always look forward to them.

[@Oswald_Anthony]

The best music never dies...

Why do you keep calling it "the Pachelbel Progression"? It's called the Romanesca. Pachelbel is just one of many who wrote variations on the Romanesca. Pretty much every composer used it. There are four basic variants of the Romanesca - the leaping Romanesca (the version found in Pachelbel's canon), the stepwise Romanesca (with the descending scale in the bass, alternating 5 and 6 chords), the Galant Romanesca (begins like a stepwise Romanesca, ends as a leaping Romanesca), and the Leo-Romanesca (where the bass descends like a stepwise Romanesca, but the upper voices keep the same chord, so you get spicier and spicier dissonances: 5, 2, 7, 2, 9...). And no mention of watching over cows, disappointing video. Look up "Guardame las vacas", for the origin of the Romanesca.

[@MusicaUniversalis]

In German, the language I learned music theory in, it is more often referred to as the “Pachelbel Sequenz”. This video is meant as an introduction, if you already know everything about all permutations of the Romanesca schema, this video wasn’t meant for you. 🤷🏻‍♂️

[@MusicaUniversalis]

But your comment will be valuable to those who want to learn more!

[@mullenenterprises]

Please continue to make videos, the quality-subcount ratio is outstanding

[@backtoschool1611]

I need to relearn my figured bass!

[@iks.7048]

A couple of other great uses of the progression are in Haydn's 27th symphony as well as Hinrich Johnsen's concerto for 2 bassoons.

[@MusicaUniversalis]

There are too many to count honestly.

[@iks.7048]

@@MusicaUniversalis For sure.

[@pjbpiano]

Well, the origins of this progressions was not the falling thirds. It was the “down a fourth, up a second” bass motion that created this descending scale pattern. And once harmonized for three voices, you get the Pachebel basic progression.

[@MusicaUniversalis]

“I was there, 3000 years ago.”

[@caleb-hines]

This progression is also the second theme of Beethoven's Waldstein Sonata.

[@MusicaUniversalis]

Yes! I forgot about that one.

[@junlee7237]

Wow i never noticed that before

[@eltonwild5648]

Glad you are back doing videos!

[@00042]

The interval of the inverted 6ths@3:45=👍

[@jjrossphd]

Greatly appreciate the scholarship

[@DixieDee]

I don't care what anyone says about Pachelbel's Canon! It is the only song that can grab me at my very soul and tear my heart out! It is every emotion all at once. It is sadness and joy, ugliness and beauty, bittersweet nostalgia; all wrapped up into one!

[@ДмитрийБаженов-ш6т]

There is a song “Дыхание” (“Breathing”) after popular Russian rock band Nautilus Pompilius, where they add a fourth link to the sequence and thus the verse finishes in B minor when started in D major kzbin.info/www/bejne/oKCzo3ulg7Z8ba8

[@mynameissang]

I'm here because I'm looking up videos trying to figure out if I'm crazy or not. As an acoustic guitar player with only the most basic knowledge of music theory, the Canon progression makes most sense to me because you can utilize inversions of the progression so that the bass/bottom note is a very simple climb down then up the scale of whatever the song is. Emotionally, the simple bass climb is orderly, peaceful, calming. Like as a self learned acoustic guitar player, this concept became a fundamental part of my chord formations/inversions regardless of the actual chord progression.

[@trofaznimotor901]

I like simple "primitive" music progressions

[@TheSapphireLeo]

Same!

[@vitorfoltz8554]

What are these numbers under the sheets?

[@cestwhat1317]

Maroon 5 uses this progression

[@JoJoMacEachern]

Thank you for assembling this instructive and illuminating analysis rich in insights; much appreciated!

[@youngKingArtur]

awesome material thank you

[@raymondhummel5211]

The Pachelbel Progression sounds really good! With its thirds, 6ths, etc. I am surprised that Beethoven used it too! Well I guess I better stay tuned to Musica Universalis as there are so many musical ideas that can really be handy to people that are involved in music professionally or just love to listen and enjoy it!

[@ChernobieffPiano]

Your presentation is inspiring, may i ask what editing software you use?

[@astro_cat030]

Thanks for having an explaniation! Im impressed why the canon sounds good so i watch this to see if it helps me compose. Thanks

[@aidanmays7825]

This progression is called a romanesca. The "syncopation" is technically syncopated but more importantly it's suspended. It's diminution not "dimunition." I appreciate what you're doing with these videos btw! Just some things I noticed

[@MusicaUniversalis]

Yes it is called the romanesca if one only uses partimento terminology but it’s more often referred to as the “Pachelbelsequenz” in German (the language I studied theory in). Syncopation is another word I borrowed from my German texts. I am aware it creates suspension, but if you think about the voices individually, the suspensions are but a byproduct of syncopation. As for diminution, you are correct. Iirc I also pronounce versatility, versitaaaality at one point in the video. This is the problem with self research in multiple languages, my pronunciation can be all over the place at times, so thanks for pointing diminution out.

[@MusicaUniversalis]

Interesting that with versatility I make the same error as with diminution by reversing the two vowel sounds. Very odd, maybe I have dyslexia lol.

[@danielcalderon5557]

Thanks from Argentina!!! Best videos ever, i learn a lot and feel passion for study.

[@eltonwild5648]

Anybody know where I can find a teacher to learn counterpoint?

[@lawrencetaylor4101]

Merci beaucoup.

[@curtpiazza1688]

Splendid eye-opening lesson in 10 min! Thanx!

[@daveling676]

Very well said, thank you.

[@simongross3122]

Excellent video. Thank you.

[@krzysztofq7420]

great video, I was wondering if you are going to mention Beethoven's Piano Sonata no 30.

[@michaelli4037]

Seems like it also appears in the Neue Kraft fülend section of Heiliger Dankgesang, even imitating the melody of the canon with the 32nd note run in the second violin

[@MusicaUniversalis]

It’s all over the place. Once you become aware of it you begin to hear and see it everywhere.

[@henrykwieniawski7233]

The progression is named the "Romanesca" not the "Pachelbel" progression.

[@MusicaUniversalis]

It can be called both, judging from the texts I’ve read in both German and English. But yes Romanesca is the more historically correct terminology.

[@fernwehn5925]

Amazing video, you deserve mores views!

[@CarlosLalonde]

Really thoughtful video!

[@johnrottler4000]

There is a short segment that appears in Toto’s Africa It also seems like it appears briefly or something very similar in the Lion King’s Can You Feel The Love Tonight is that true ?

[@VanNessy97]

And it also appears in a more recent piece of music called Literally Every Pop Song Ever

[@johnrottler4000]

@@VanNessy97 Yup

[@lavendelle_swift]

Love this interesting video!

[@1685Violin]

Do you mind if you look at the harmonic sequence (not chord progression) used by Gaspare Spontini's _La Vestale_ heard from 3:56 - 4:06 and see if you could make a video from it? kzbin.info/www/bejne/mXLGk3Z8r752Z9E When I first heard the piece last year, I found that sequence fascinating but I had thought that it was a very rare chord progression that I had no idea how it was built. I came to realize that I actually had heard that harmonic sequence many times before, not just in classical music but rarely in video game music as well. It's just I didn't recognize it until I listened to _La Vestale_ . Not only that but unlike other sequences (such as the 5-6 sequence and chord progressions such as the circle of fifths and Pachelbel Progression), that sequence has no name and thus it is almost impossible to research this online. That sequence can also be found in Handel's _For unto us a Child is born_ from his _Messiah_ , Jean Phillippe Rameau's _Le temple de la Gloire_ , and Beethoven's _Wellington Victory_ at 10:36. I heard it in a few other baroque pieces but I can't remember anymore. kzbin.info/www/bejne/o5Tdp5l4rtSZn9k

[@MusicaUniversalis]

I just took a quick look. It‘s actually just a variant of the 5-6-5-6 sequence in my opinion. The bass jumps in fourths, and the middle and the soprano and alto voices move up in thirds, but the seed is still 5-6-5-6 (Just changed to 5/3-6/4-5/3-6/4). I‘m gonna make a 5-6-5-6 video at some point, and I might just use the examples you placed here.

[@1685Violin]

@@MusicaUniversalis According to Robert Gjerdingen in his schema section of Partimenti.org, that sequence in _La Vastal_ is an example of what was known in Naples as an "up a fourth, down a third" and it was also noted - as a _marche harmonique_ - in a few French theoretical treatises that don't have modern editions.

[@MusicaUniversalis]

@@1685Violin If we named every progression in music and their subsequent adaptations, you‘d need an innumerable amount of lexicons to contain the names thereof. I‘m not really into Gjerdingen, I spent a great deal of money on his book because tons of people have been raving about it here in the comments. Unfortunately I haven’t found it compatible with how I write music, so haven’t taken great interest in his writings. I guess if you want to define it through the bass as Gjerdingen does, or by it‘s seed of 5-6-5-6 is simply a question of preference. For me it‘s just a variation of 5-6-5-6. Neither is wrong. It‘s up to you I guess.

[@lukegregg5944]

@@MusicaUniversalis Out of interest has there been any books that have impacted how you write or compose generally? I’d love to know and love your channel!

[@hippotropikas5374]

Great video! Keep going!

[@brandonbarrett7595]

Wonderful

[@caterscarrots3407]

Did composers other than Bach and Beethoven and of course Pachelbel ever use this I - V - vi - iii - IV - I progression or any of it's variants(like the every other chord in first inversion that leads to a stepwise bassline)? Like, did Haydn use it? Or Mozart? Or other Baroque composers like Handel or Vivaldi? Or romantics like Schubert or Brahms? Just wondering, because you say that this is a common progression, yet I haven't seen it outside of those 3 composers you mentioned in the video, so I don't know if I'm just not looking hard enough or what.

[@johnrottler4000]

Mozart’s Magic Flute has a very similar chord progression in part of it

[@caterscarrots3407]

@@johnrottler4000 Interesting. Do you know which part the progression appears in?

[@johnrottler4000]

@@caterscarrots3407 It’s in the first act of Mozart’s Magic Flute

[@kingavenuemusic]

The Romanesca was so common that pretty much any composer in the 1700s would have used it in some form. As shown in the video, it can be varied and even masked in many ways, so you might not always recognize it.

[@caterscarrots3407]

@@kingavenuemusic I see, so it is probably that I'm just not looking hard enough at Handel, Vivaldi, Haydn, Mozart, and Schubert to see it, but it's there. I did see a variant where every other note was harmonized with it's own chord and the other half was simply passing tones in the bass in Bach's Air on the G String from Orchestral Suite no. 3(or I guess you could view it as 2 chords, at least for the first 2 notes since C# F# A is an F# minor chord, but I prefer to think of it as just passing tones in the bass). So like I heard a chord progression of D, Bm, G or I, vi, IV in D major, but the stepwise bass clued me in to it being this progression and not just any use of the vi chord before the IV chord.