Canon (music)

A contrapuntal technique in which one voice imitates a melody begun by another, often after a fixed delay. The voices may follow the melody exactly or with specified changes.

Imitation (music): The repetition or transformation of a musical idea in another voice or part. Canon is a rule-governed form of imitation, typically with a fixed entry delay.
Counterpoint: The combination of independent melodic lines into coherent music. Canon is a contrapuntal technique built from coordinated independent voices.
Canon in D (Pachelbel): A three-violin canon over a repeating bass pattern, composed by Johann Pachelbel. Its overlapping violin entries make a familiar example of strict imitation.
Fugue: A contrapuntal composition in which a subject is introduced in successive voices and developed through varied procedures. A fugue begins with imitation but develops its subject more freely than a strict canon.
Real answer: An imitative response that reproduces the subject at the same pitch intervals. A real answer preserves the melody’s intervals exactly when the second voice enters.
Subject (music): A principal melodic idea that serves as the basis for a composition or section. The subject is the melody that a canon’s voices successively imitate.
Crab Canon: A two-voice canon in which one line is played forward while the other is played backward. It demonstrates retrograde imitation in a compact, symmetrical form.
Round (music): A simple canon in which all parts perform the same melody and repeat it continuously. A round is a familiar, especially strict subtype of canon.
Tonal answer: An adjusted imitative response that changes intervals to preserve the home key’s harmonic balance. A tonal answer modifies the subject when exact imitation would disrupt the key.
Voice (music): An individual melodic line in a musical texture, whether sung or played. Each canon entry forms a distinct voice within the texture.

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