The Canon

Let’s take the music and memory thing further. 

You’re in the middle of studying for a quiz at school tomorrow. Music in the background will help ease your anxiety about it. Just a sec–music won’t cure anxiety.  

Music will help ease it. Any piece will work. Well, maybe not any music. We’re talking Thrash Metal here.

Okay, maybe Thrash Metal isn’t your thing. What I’m about to say might not be your thing, either. But I’m going to say it. 

Go to your music streaming app and type Canon in D by Pachelbel. Yeah, Mr Pachelbel isn’t a rap artist or a hip-hop performer. He died in 1706, aged 53.

Stay with me here. The Canon (not the cannon you find on pirate ships) is a Canon (capital C and no double N). A Canon is a piece of classical music. One voice begins. It’s followed by a second voice that starts a little after the first. The voice here doesn’t have to be a human voice. A ‘voice’ can be an instrument.

Have you ever sung a group song about rowing a boat? One group starts, and the second one comes in after the first. It’s called a round. A Canon is like that. 

Pachelbel’s Canon is a calm piece of music. That’s what your brain needs to store all of that vital quiz info. 

Good luck with your test tomorrow!