Born in a province of Kütahya, Doğan Canku began composing at the age of two even before learning to speak. He took his first music education from his father Şeref Canku who was a musicologist. In 1958 he entered the State Conservatory and took cello and piano lessons for six years. In 1964 he met the guitar and adhered to it with passion. Yet because guitar training was academically unavailable those years he directly began his professional music career. In short time he learned flamenco guitar and became one of the best guitarists of the country. He made significant contributions to the repertories of many professional musicians whom he played with. In 1967 succeeding in an examination made by Ankara Radio, he was entitled to take education on the theory and practice of Turkish Classical Music. In 1969 he founded the band Modern Folk Üçlüsü (Modern Folk Triplet) with Selami Karaibrahimgil and Ahmet Kurtalan. In the course of fifteen years the band gave hundreds of concerts, made many TV and radio programmes both at home and abroad. They represented Turkey almost in forty five countries. In 1974 Canku worked as a lecturer and a director of music in Hacettepe University, Department of Music and Fine Arts. Then in 1980 he went to Istanbul to continue his individual music career with albums and concerts. He has also opened a music training centre with large staff.