# Pachabel's Canon in .. uhm... guitar **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 25, 2006, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pachabels-canon-in-uhm-guitar/349808 "2006-03-25T01:05:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DirkGntly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d9b06d/32.png) [@DirkGntly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DirkGntly)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2006, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pachabels-canon-in-uhm-guitar/349808/1 "2006-03-25T01:05:01Z")
This guy is pretty darned good… [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjA5faZF1A8](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjA5faZF1A8) ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2006, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pachabels-canon-in-uhm-guitar/349808/2 "2006-03-25T01:13:52Z")
> [@DirkGntly](#): > > This guy is pretty darned good… > [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjA5faZF1A8](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjA5faZF1A8) I love the Internet. I wish I had the faintest freaking freckle of musical ability. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2006, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pachabels-canon-in-uhm-guitar/349808/3 "2006-03-25T01:14:25Z")
Lordy, he can play a little bit can’t he? ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2006, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pachabels-canon-in-uhm-guitar/349808/4 "2006-03-25T01:21:19Z")
Not bad, though I still prefer Ed Stander doing it on glass harmonica. (Not harmonica – glass harmonica, which is completely different.) ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2006, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pachabels-canon-in-uhm-guitar/349808/5 "2006-03-25T01:25:06Z")
Righteous! Not a wasted move. ---
**Author:** ![Zabali\_Clawbane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/ecd19e/32.png) [@Zabali\_Clawbane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zabali_Clawbane)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2006, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pachabels-canon-in-uhm-guitar/349808/6 "2006-03-25T03:23:52Z")
Is that a “he” playing, or is a “she” playing? 😕 If that person is male they are very young, but the shirt collar is kinda girly, among other things. In any case, they are an excellent musician. Wow! ---
**Author:** ![yBeayf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/e274bd/32.png) [@yBeayf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yBeayf)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2006, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pachabels-canon-in-uhm-guitar/349808/7 "2006-03-25T03:38:07Z")
It is indeed good to know the art of shredding has not died out among the younger generations. ---
**Author:** ![MC\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c77e96/32.png) [@MC\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MC_E)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2006, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pachabels-canon-in-uhm-guitar/349808/8 "2006-03-25T03:48:57Z")
I guess I’m a little confused. how do we know that that person is really playing? How did the guitar get mixed with the drums at just the right level? Is there a drum/rhythm track of that piece out there (with no lead guitar) that he/she is playing along with? Enlighten me. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2006, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pachabels-canon-in-uhm-guitar/349808/9 "2006-03-25T03:50:54Z")
Awesome. But I can’t help think of the reactions from the kid’s friends after he plays this for them: But do you know any Zepplin? I thought you were going to show me a _cannon_. Pachelbel? Isn’t that the new taco place near the mall? Dude, it’s 2006, not 1706. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2006, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pachabels-canon-in-uhm-guitar/349808/10 "2006-03-25T04:17:17Z")
As to the possibility of being faked. Things to note: 1. Anyone that can fake that well would pretty much be a highly skilled player anyway. 2. There’s a flub about 40% of the way thru. Right after a short burst of power chords he hits a note wrong and you hear a screech. The video and audio are in sync. (In my browser, it’s a little before the progress indicator reaches the triangle next to “Share”.) BTW: The stop light interlude gives a nice way to splice two takes together. I put my mouse pointer on the mouse in the video and it definitely had shifted after the cut. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2006, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pachabels-canon-in-uhm-guitar/349808/11 "2006-03-25T04:22:23Z")
> [@MC$E](#): > > I guess I’m a little confused. how do we know that that person is really playing? How did the guitar get mixed with the drums at just the right level? Is there a drum/rhythm track of that piece out there (with no lead guitar) that he/she is playing along with? > > Enlighten me. He’s sitting next to his computer, he no doubt has Band in a Box or some similar software that is cranking out the backing track. He probably spent a lot of time getting this all set up. He is really playing it. I have been playing guitar since I was 7, he is really playing it. Amazing how kids like this sit on the shoulders of giants. Today he’s just another shredder wannabe. But if you had heard this guy playing in 1972 he would have become famous overnight. (Not too take anything away from him, he’s very talented.) ---
**Author:** ![audiobottle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bc8723/32.png) [@audiobottle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/audiobottle)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2006, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pachabels-canon-in-uhm-guitar/349808/12 "2006-03-25T05:52:52Z")
That’s some good sweeping he’s got going on there. He’s definitely not faking it. ---
**Author:** ![sleestak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/919ad9/32.png) [@sleestak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sleestak)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2006, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pachabels-canon-in-uhm-guitar/349808/13 "2006-03-25T07:22:40Z")
Another vote for he is not faking it. He is a pretty good player but there were some flubs. (Trust me, I know all about flubs. Hell, I think I perfected flubs) The sweeps he is doing aren’t all that hard. Sweeps are something that, to non-guitarists, tend to look and sound really impressive but actually are pretty easy. Much easier than actually picking the arpeggios\*. Slee \*I decided to stop sweeping awhile ago and pick everything. It is taking forever to be able to do that. When recording I still sweep but I am working on killing that pesky little habit. ---
**Author:** ![TJdude825](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dec6dc/32.png) [@TJdude825](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TJdude825)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2006, 7:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pachabels-canon-in-uhm-guitar/349808/14 "2006-03-25T07:50:19Z")
> [@sleestak](#): > > Another vote for he is not faking it. He is a pretty good player but there were some flubs. (Trust me, I know all about flubs. Hell, I think I perfected flubs) > > The sweeps he is doing aren’t all that hard. Sweeps are something that, to non-guitarists, tend to look and sound really impressive but actually are pretty easy. Much easier than actually picking the arpeggios\*. > > Slee > > \*I decided to stop sweeping awhile ago and pick everything. It is taking forever to be able to do that. When recording I still sweep but I am working on killing that pesky little habit. I’m pretty knowledgeable about music in general but not about guitar. Can you point me to a site that explains this “sweep” technique of which you speak? ---
**Author:** ![Hung\_Mung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a88e4f/32.png) [@Hung\_Mung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hung_Mung)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2006, 7:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pachabels-canon-in-uhm-guitar/349808/15 "2006-03-25T07:54:37Z")
Not a fake…just lots, and lots, and lots, and _lots_ practice. The little mistakes and bad notes (on a couple of bends, and that’s totally forgivable) add up to: amateur. But that’s one hell of an amateur. Boy or girl…holy shit. I thought that _I_ created an interesting and original arrangement of Canon in D. I now want to break my guitar over the head of a luchador and impale myself on the fragments. ---
**Author:** ![Hoops](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hoops/32/6408_2.png) [@Hoops](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hoops)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2006, 8:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pachabels-canon-in-uhm-guitar/349808/16 "2006-03-25T08:14:42Z")
Yeah. That’s pretty nice. As **CookingWithGas** and others have intimated, those kinds of chops are not exactly unprecedented anymore. As a professional musician (keyboards), most of the guitarists I know could pull that kind of thing off with little effort. Then again, I’m talking about pro’s in their 30’s and 40’s. For a kid to be doing that in his bedroom—well, my hat is off to him. The internets are indeed great. ---
**Author:** ![sturmhauke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47c2d/32.png) [@sturmhauke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sturmhauke)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2006, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pachabels-canon-in-uhm-guitar/349808/17 "2006-03-25T11:51:57Z")
That person is pretty good. On a similar note, Bela Fleck has an album called [Perpetual Motion](http://www.epinions.com/content_153815715460) which consists of classical pieces played with a banjo. ---
**Author:** ![FlyingRamenMonster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@FlyingRamenMonster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlyingRamenMonster)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2006, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pachabels-canon-in-uhm-guitar/349808/18 "2006-03-25T11:56:44Z")
Finally, a version I like 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![NoCoolUserName](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5fc32e/32.png) [@NoCoolUserName](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NoCoolUserName)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2006, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pachabels-canon-in-uhm-guitar/349808/19 "2006-03-25T14:58:23Z")
I kinda like [this guy](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9mEKMz2Pvo) better. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![audiobottle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bc8723/32.png) [@audiobottle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/audiobottle)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2006, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pachabels-canon-in-uhm-guitar/349808/20 "2006-03-25T16:24:53Z")
> [@TJdude825](#): > > I’m pretty knowledgeable about music in general but not about guitar. Can you point me to a site that explains this “sweep” technique of which you speak? Sweeping is a method of playing by which you strum all the strings one at a time in one smooth motion. It’s a fast way of playing arpeggios. As **Sleestak** said, it’s much harder to pick the entire arpeggio since you have to be quite a bit faster with the picking hand. If I remember correctly, Steve Vai picks all the arpeggios in “Eugene’s Trickbag” from the movie Crossroads (not the one with Britney spears). It’s pretty impressive. I think it’s one of Paganini’s etudes that he does. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pachabels-canon-in-uhm-guitar/349808.md?page=2)