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A contrapuntal technique where a melody is imitated exactly by one or more voices entering at staggered time intervals.
Canon is strict imitation — each voice sings the same melody, offset in time. Types include canon at the unison, octave, fifth, or other intervals; retrograde canon (the follower sings the melody backward); and augmentation/diminution canons. Writing canon requires every note to work both as melody and as harmony against the other entries.
Pachelbel's Canon in D — three violins play the same melody in canon over a repeating bass, one of the most famous examples of the technique.
Canon is one of 228 terms in the Gradus musical dictionary, where every definition is written around how composers actually use the word.
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